Samson & Delilah - Samson & Delilah

Sampson and Delilah are the duo of Sam Lench (from Somerset) and Anna Zweck (from Australia), now resident in Manchester. Their eponymous debut album is written, loosely, as a day cycle.

There is a lot of promise here. The vocals and music inspire an ethereal, spooky mood and its very atmospheric. Zweck’s voice is perfect for this kind of music and the wide range of instruments including flute and piano are well matched to the songs.

Unfortunately, I felt that the album was let down a little by some odd production choices. On many tracks, the excellent vocals are drowned out by overly loud piano or guitar accompaniment and the listener has to make a real effort to make out the words.

The standout track is the haunting ’And When the Rose’ sung partly without instrumental backing. The album is well worth spending some time with and should inspire listeners to see Samson & Delilah live.