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La Paz 3:060:00/3:06
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0:00/2:23
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Cry 4:470:00/4:47
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Like a Friend 3:140:00/3:14
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Slow Drugs 3:380:00/3:38
Sam Himself – Switzerland's acting ‘King of Tears’ & New York’s leading Fondue Western™ baritone, as heard on HBO Max – has a case of Deja Vu with Anna Rossinelli.
The bittersweet duet is a first for the two signature voices, although the people behind them have known each other for some time. In early 2020, Sam and Anna planned their first tour together, which the pandemic forced them to postpone – and eventually cancel altogether. The acquaintance that led to their friendship and ultimately the musical collaboration behind Deja Vu began in Basel. Sam, born Samuel Koechlin, made New York City his home at the tender age of 19, yet he remained close enough to his hometown’s music scene in Basel to be able to recruit Anna Rossinelli bassist Georg Dillier for his live band in 2018. The first Swiss concerts of his then newly hatched solo project Sam Himself already took place with Dillier on bass, a position he still holds today.
One thing led to another, the two exchanged ideas and one of those was the piano ballad that became Deja Vu: a snapshot of those small hours lost in memory and reminiscence. Dillier, who also works as a songwriter for Anna Rossinelli, put the finishing touches to Sam's song, which was subsequently recorded by Berlin producer Patrik Majer (Wir sind Helden; Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds).
Just last year, Sam Himself shared his second album, Never Let Me Go (Jan. 27, 2023 via Sony Music / TGR).
The ten-track LP marks the latest collaboration of "Swiss-born, Gotham-bred" (SPIN) indie rocker Sam Koechlin with his longtime producer / "Second Beatle" Daniel Schlett (Iggy Pop; The War on Drugs) and mastering engineer Greg Calbi (David Bowie; Bruce Springsteen), featuring Chris Egan (Solange; Blood Orange) on drums and Josh "JD" Werner (Ghostface Killah; CocoRosie) on bass.
Leading up to the release, album singles Never Let Me Go (July 22, 2022), the album's title track; Golden Days (Sept. 16, 2022); and Mr. Rocknroll (Nov. 11, 2022) offered a taste of what to expect of the two-time Swiss Music Award nominee's sophomore effort: according to the artist, Never Let Me Go is Sam's soundtrack for the first day after what looked like the last, buoyed by the madness of a rapidly accelerating career trajectory, the thrill of touring again, and the promise of a reopening world whose studios, stages and dance floors we get to share again at long last.
To dress for the occasion, Sam teamed up with Swiss fashion house YVY for a signature line of Sam Himself Buckle Trousers, launched jointly with the Mr. Rocknroll single release and flaunted extensively in the song's music video. In addition to Sam, YVY counts Madonna and Billie Eilish among its fans, according to the New York Times.
Heartland, the album's focus track, “finds Sam Himself at his most warm and soulful, offering up a soaring sound that brings hints of The Killers and The War on Drugs into the mix,” according to Under The Radar Magazine.
In Sam's own words, "Heartland is my own personal road movie, vintage Fondue Western cinema shot through the lens of someone who only has eyes for one other person, gunning a stuffy Prius across the United States just to be with them. If that sounds over the top, it is.”
Swap out the Toyota Prius for a cramped tour bus and you'll get the music video for Heartland, an eclectic collage of live footage, fan videos and self-made recordings of Sam and his band on the road. That's where you found the artist for most of 2023: Sam was on tour throughout the year, with stops in New York, Berlin, Vienna and an official showcase at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg (GE).
The festival became the de facto release show for Eisbär, Sam's German language debut – a cover of Swiss post-punk greats Grauzone's 1981 sleeper hit of the same name.
Between shows, releases and the studio, Sam still found time for prime time: his song La Paz was featured on HBO Max's Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That (S2E02) in June 2023.
In late 2021, Sam Himself's debut album Power Ballads, a “well-crafted set of atmospheric post-punk” (KEXP), broke the songwriter and performer onto the international stage – Power Ballads single La Paz became a Top Ten fan favorite on KCRW as well as several other prestigious year-end lists. The LP, as all of Sam Himself's major releases to date, Sam created together with his longtime creative partner, the New York City-based producer and engineer Daniel Schlett.
The two collaborated on several releases prior to Power Ballads but Sam really began to make a name for himself and his “smokey baritone vocals” (Under The Radar) with Slow Drugs (2020). Sam Himself was touring in Europe in support of that EP when the pandemic pulled the plug on live music - and Sam's return to New York City, his chosen home of the previous decade. The shock and solitude of that experience went on to shape his first album, on which Sam performed and recorded most instruments himself in a variety of DYI home studios. Ultimately, Sam and producer Schlett managed to produce most of Power Ballads long-distance by exchanging those recordings until Sam could return to the United States (and Schlett's Brooklyn studio).
“His deep, rich vocals remind us of the beauty that exists even during the darkest times.”
Never Let Me Go, by contrast, was inspired by new beginnings.
“The last couple of years took their toll on me like they did on all of us, but they also gave me a lot to be thankful for. It still feels like a small miracle that anyone cared about my music while we were all going through this pretty bleak time,” Sam says with a touch of vintage Swiss understatement.
When his music started making waves, Sam felt "stranded" in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, for the first time since his teens. He didn’t hesitate to meet his moment, though, and so began a period of professional recognition and personal upheaval – in the artists own words: “I didn’t sleep for a year.” If that sounds dizzying, the real plot twist arrived ill-timed and unexpected. We are, of course, talking about falling in love.
“You couldn’t make this sh*t up,” says Sam about glimpsing, for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, a little light of his own at the end of the proverbial tunnel. “When it became clear that I wouldn’t be going back to New York anytime soon in early 2020, I thought my whole world had ended. Luckily, things started over, my world rebooted and it’s been getting bigger ever since.” The flying sparks ignited Sam’s creative engine, too, and before long, he had an LP’s worth of new songs, each in its own way inspired by the fragile promise of having something to lose again – or someone.