Born in Hawaii and residing in Brooklyn, Samanta Liza is a global citizen, who has lived in London, Sweden, Kuwait, Qatar, Florida, and Shanghai. Having immersed herself in the cultures around her, she brings a potpourri of sounds to her artistry, and as a DJ, she raises the ante with her sultry live vocals and percussions layered over crisp and thumping dance tunes. Her new album Days Of E.N.D. perfectly encapsulates Samanta’s purpose of creating emotional journeys that are transformative for her listener.
Written, composed, and produced by Samanta Liza, with additional co-production from Panté and Aezon on the last three songs of the project, Days Of E.N.D. (which stands for Days of Extremely Nonsensical Drama) is a glorious electronic album with lush pop sensibilities that sees Samanta shining across pop and electronic subgenres like dance-pop, melodic house, alternative pop, techno and indie pop.
The project opens up with "Some People Do Nothing", which is made up of dark cinematic synths, electro-pop drum breaks and a thought-provoking vocal narration. Here, Samantha is as reflective as can be, and delivers sparse vocal runs that implore the listener to do something with their time. The energy rises a bit on the moody pop tune "Why Do You Love Me", which sees her questioning her lover in a candid manner, while the alt-pop offering "We Are Not Friends" has her contemplating losing a love. The production there has a melancholic and somewhat dreamy aesthetic, while her sultry vocals exude a tinge of sadness. On the dance-pop focus track"I Don't Regret You", Samanta chooses to see her past relationships as purposeful. Elsewhere on the piano-driven "Daydreaming", she doesn’t want to let go of what she had. "We Are One" is an experimental pop record that is built on crisp guitar plucks and riffs underpinned by muffled kick drums and shuffling shakers. It's quite dynamic, and Samanta's rich layered vocals do take precedence as she delivers a heartfelt and emotionally punchy performance that digs deep into her own unique meaning of love. The following tracks, "I Wanna Be Free" and "Sweet Lies" once again showcase the singer's knack for penning relatable tracks that are also thought-provoking and reflective. The latter explores the importance of honesty in relationships. The former reveals her yearning for new beginnings with it's smooth four-to-the-floor drums, mellow guitar riffs, and thick basslines to boot.
As the title suggests, we deal with ‘extremely nonsensical drama’ in our lives, and this album is a nod to how relationships dictate much of how we live our lives. As Samanta Liza puts it, “What matters at the end of the day is how we relate to ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we relate to the collective. Without togetherness, life is nothingness”.
The highly anticipated album comes on the back of a glorious past 12 months from the electronica rising star, beginning with the release of her debut EP, Back To Earth, last summer, which charted at #8 on the Beatport Deep House Top 100 Chart, and peaked at #14 on the iTunes Dance Albums Chart.
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