Samanta Sidley Goes For Adds

“I Like Girls” is a peek into a meticulously-crafted debut album from Samantha Sidley that features the beautifully-trained jazz vocalist taking confident ownership of songs written for her to sing by some of the most important women in her life. This unassuming anthem was co-written by Alex Lilly and Sidley’s wife, Barbara Gruska (The Belle Brigade, Fiona Apple, Ray Lamontagne). “We’ve been able to relate to songs that come from straight perspectives our whole lives,” says Gruska. “We have to have faith that straight listeners can  relate to songs that are written from gay perspectives. It’s as if Sam is saying, ‘I’m gay. I love being gay. If you’re cool with that, listen on, because I’ve got a lot more to say!’”

The song is the first offering from Interior Person, the full-length album that will arrive in September via Inara George’s Release Me imprint. The record was produced by Gruska, who also drums on the LP, in a studio Sidley built in her childhood bedroom. Says Sidley, “My record sounds exactly like what I needed it to sound like – the old records I grew up on, mixed with now and the future.”

“Ms. Sidley has a sweet, girlish voice, so light that at times it almost disappears. But that vocal weightlessness is somewhat deceptive. She holds in reserve an airier version of the wail deployed by Rickie Lee Jones and Laura Nyro, which injects blushes of emotional color into her mostly playful singing.” —The New York Times

“‘I Like Girls’ takes us back to the speakeasies of the 20s, with flirtatious saxophones and crisp, expressive vocals. The song is a sophisticated and delicious ice-breaker, serving anthemic lyrical content for an evolving culture. So grab a whiskey, mind the feather boa, and sing along.” —Grimy Goods

RIYL: Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, The Bird And The Bee, Alex Lilly, Ingrid Michaelson, Madeleine Peyroux

FCC Clean

Label: Release Me Records

Goes For Adds 7/9