Samantha Lindo is a Bristol based new wave jazz artist with a soulful indie edge. Recently featured on the BBC Sounds Hot List, curated by BBC Introducing & BBC 6 Music, she is described as having a voice that is ‘hauntingly flawless’, ‘having crowds mesmerised within seconds’.

Expansive and emotional, Samantha Lindo’s ‘Those Kids’ is akin to Celeste’s ‘Strange’, whilst inhabiting its own timeless style. She combines cinematic strings, reminiscent of the 50s jazz standards of her grandfather’s record collection; RnB harmonies that marked her teenage years; and the Bob Dylan & Leonard Cohen like poeticism that inspired her in her twenties.

Known for ‘weaving poetry’ and ‘beautiful lyricism through her songs’ and ‘presenting some very raw and real issues about love, life and the human condition’ (Nitelife) the meaning of ‘Those Kids’, Samantha explains, quickly became multi-faceted:

‘It started as a song about all the loves we’ve had, and the different people we’ve been at different ages, still being part of us - like rings of growth on a tree trunk. The song is saying that all those parts of us never die and that embracing them all helps us heal and move on.’

This video - a collaboration with contemporary dancer Tim Firmin from London’s ballet Rombert; Bristol videographer Lizzi Goldsack and directed by Samantha herself - expresses some of these themes and narratives. However, Samantha recalls how: ‘the minute we started filming with Tim, it all took on another, more political dimension’.

As shooting for the video started in St George’s park, Bristol, just outside Hope Rise, the UK’s first zero carbon social housing development for young people at risk of homelessness - another layer of meaning emerged.

‘Youth homelessness and Bristol’s housing crisis is an issue especially close to my heart and the video became a comment on that too. Where young people have experienced challenges and trauma; fair, just and secure housing is key in having a strong enough base to heal and build for the future. At the moment, Bristol’s unfair private renting system is causing poverty & homelessness.’

The video’s combination of dance, cinematography and lyrics tells a moving story about the interplay between all these issues and the single release will aim to help build support for Shelter’s campaign to demand fair renting in Bristol.

Sign Shelter’s Fair Renting Campaign now: campaigns.shelter.org.uk/dema...

With contributing musicians such as Marla Kether, bassist for Yasmin Lacey and Ego Ella May, the sound Samantha creates straddles new wave jazz whilst holding her other influences together in a rich but stunningly simple way. In addition to this, the visuals and audio production subtleties take on a retro feel that are a nostalgic wink to the technology of a 90s childhood.

The lead single to a forthcoming EP, ‘Those Kids’ will be celebrated alongside launching a crowdfunded pre-order campaign at her first live show of 2021, performing alongside Brit nominee Beth Rowley, Eliza Shaddad and Bristol’s Murmuration choir, at internationally renowned St George’s Bristol on the 24th of July. The night will be in celebration of 10 years of Girls Girls Girls: the all female arts collective Samantha co-founded to empower womxn in music where she’ll be hosting a panel discussing the issues highlighted by the release and more.

‘A natural born storyteller giving such a spine tingling vocal performance that I couldn’t keep count of the amount of times I had goosebumps’.

BRISTOL 24/7

‘I can well imagine Samantha shooting up to the top with an alarming speed – eyes peeled for this girl!’

NITELIFE