I’d say Like Family is perhaps the most emotive track on the album. After my grandparents came to the UK in the late 1950’s, partly to hide being pregnant with my dad out of wedlock, they never returned to live there, but my grandpa took us on a trip two generations later.
The Song is based on a moment, a strong memory, of seeing him cry, whilst taking us to find his old childhood house on an old sugar plantation, which was in ruins. My grandparents' family life had been complicated, but concealed in the UK. It’s almost as if I watched all his childhood and adult memories and feelings, weaved between continents and centuries run across his face at that moment.
Family can be full of complexity and secrets and often paradoxically is the thing that causes the most pain and yet the most healing and beauty.
One of the first black Anglican vicars in the UK, he used the language of accepting our ‘human frailties’. The inheritance from him I want to nurture is the willingness to hold paradox, forgiveness and grace for ourselves, others and the world, rather than the tempting tendency to judge, condemn and tear people down.
lyrics
LIKE FAMILY
On the little road of
Winding sugar cane
I remember the men
Who recognised your name
It made you weep
All the memories you held so deep
Sweetness on our lips
All curls and wide eyes
And you remember this place
That held your innocence like mine
It made you weep
All those memories you held so deep
Picture in my mind
Only time I saw you cry
Picture in my mind
Only time I saw you cry
Nothing aches and nothing
Feels like family
Spread across the waves
And centuries
Made us bleed
And made us heal
And made us see
All this human love
And frailty
You turned away to face
The world you left behind
Like a eulogy
That flashed before your eyes
It made you weep
All those memories you held so deep
Picture in my mind
Only time I saw you cry
Picture in my mind
Only time I saw you cry
Nothing aches and nothing
Feels like family
Spread across the waves
And centuries
Made us bleed
And made us heal
And made us see
All this human love
And frailty
credits
from Ancestry,
track released September 26, 2023
Samantha Lindo: Lead vocals
and backing vocals
Alex Veitch: Piano & keyboard (Yeti)
Chris Langton: Drums (Snazzback)
Christopher Chikwanah: Bass
Jackson Lapes: Congas & percussion (Worm Disco Club, No Go Stop, Dundundun)
Doug Cave: Production, saxophone & flute (Cousin Kula)
David Ridley: Strings
Joe Wilkins: Guitar
Samantha Lindo is a multidisciplinary RnB and Soul artist whose sound spans the realms of spiritual jazz, gospel and spoken
word.
Her forthcoming album, 'Ancestry', was funded by Arts Council England and the MOBO awards and uses the stories from her family history to explore themes of dual heritage identity, inter-generational healing and climate justice....more
Sublime album, fantastic voice and songwriting backed by solid band and production. Current favourite track is Give Me Another Day. The tracks are short and sweet but some could certainly stand extending for the dancefloor. Phing
A special, special talent.
The music and melody Cleo Sol is so healing to me.
Her music is inviting, and her spirit is receiving.
a musical maven in complete control. brother imhotep