March, 2026, walking down Islington High Street in the rain, heading for the hallowed Union Chapel, the anticipation of seeing Samantha Crain live was palpable. Too many years had gone by since a summer night at the Brudenell Centre, Leeds, playing to a crowd of about fifty people. Crain was now headlining a place she had played as support previously, but was now living her own bucket list moment in front of a packed congregation. Struck by the intensity, sometimes playful and pure emotion in her songs, it was time she was covered by an AUK Essentials feature.
Crain was born in 1986 and grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Always involved in music, she taught herself to play the guitar. Releasing what was billed as A Musical Novella called Confiscation in 2007. Opening with the brilliant take on a murder ballad The River, Crain had arrived in style. Forming a backing band with Andrew Tanz, Stephen Sebastian and Jacob Edwards, calling themselves The Midnight Shivers, Crain released her first full-length album, Songs In The Night, two years later. After The Midnight Shivers disbanded, Crain joined with Joey Lemon and used his studio in Wichita, Kansas, to record her You (Understood) collection. Lemon producing, engineering and playing bass, joined by Benjamin Wigler on electric guitar and other guest musicians on certain tracks. Not a major departure from Songs In The Night and included a host of songs just lingering outside this Essentials ten. Santa Fe, the beautiful Witchitalright and free-flowing mad jumble of Toothpicks, to name but three.
What followed were the two albums that really captured the fans’ and critics’ imagination. Working with San Francisco producer and former member of the experimental band MK Ultra, John Vanderslice, at his Tiny Telephone Studio, Crain released the single A Simple Junction. The pair then collaborated on Kid Face and Under Branch & Thorn & Tree. As Essentials has only 10 tracks and many songs from these albums were on the initial list, some had to be left out to give you an overall view of Crain’s talent. My own love of a slow, meaningful, guitar-driven ballad could easily have resulted in a list of 10 very similar tracks. In fact, back in Winter 2017, Crain gave an interview to No Depression magazine and felt that all her songs sounded the same. She explained how easy it had become to drop into old familiar chords with a guitar in her hand. Working with Vanderslice again, he encouraged her to release her You Had Me At Goodbye collection. Using drum and bass and basically kicking back and having some fun. An acoustic version of the album, called Kinda, was available in the UK at a limited number of independent music stores. The set included “Red Sky, Blue Mountain,” written in the Choctaw language. Embracing her native American heritage this is a beautiful song on the acoustic Kinda release and on the original album.
Crain suffered three car accidents in three months, one of which left her bedridden for more than a year, and she lost the use of her hands. The return was the introspective A Small Death, one of the best records of 2020. AUK’s own Keith Hargreaves described it as “Genre-defying in its scope”; it is no surprise that two of its tracks are included and very high up.
A singer-songwriter of exceptional talent. Crain has a way of phrasing that holds the attention and keeps you guessing where she is going next; the old lyrical standard “From a whisper to a scream” could sum up her vocals at times. Ten magnificent tracks are included below, including one from her recent release Gumshoe. If you are not familiar with Samantha Crain’s work, now is the time to have a listen; if you are, then you will know what all the fuss is about. Again, apologies for all the excellent work left out.
Number 10: Lions from You (Understood) (2010)
Musically startling, this excellent cut from You (Understood), released in 2010, was recorded with her band, The Midnight Shivers. This cut explores fear and ways to escape the sense of a life frozen by it. The opening line “Bring all paralysed things to my side” is so powerful, and Crain’s vocals are almost shouting before dropping to a whisper for parts of the song. “And I swear / All the eyes saw the white is haunting me / I’m always waking up screaming / Where have you left me this time”. For someone who was only 24 when the song was released, and even younger when she wrote it, the words and imagery are startling. It is one of those special songs where the pounding music gives way to a quiet interlude, and both are equally important. Included here is an old live performance with The Midnight Shivers that captures the song’s energy and angst. Crain and the band are outstanding.
Number 9: Two Sitting Ducks from I Guess We Live Here Now EP (2021)
Crain tells the story of a couple whose car becomes “terminally ill” in the middle of a migration, ending with the plaintive line that became the EP’s title, “I guess we live here now”. The violin plays over in the background, and the music swirls around, creating a sense of loss and bewilderment. Crain examines the feeling of being young and invincible, only to see it all come tumbling down around you very quickly. An exceptional piece of writing.
Number 8: The Dam Song from Songs In The Night (2008)
A personal favourite, but isn’t that the nature of these Essential lists? It starts as a simple guitar-and-vocal outing from Crain’s first album with The Midnight Shivers, before being joined by guitar and drums, heightening the tension and the feeling that something is happening in a relationship is better than days of nothing. Stephen Sebastian’s chiming guitar works perfectly before Jacob Edwards brings in a harmonica refrain to take it to the end. Crain’s voice, fragile and pleading but with hope, “’ Least then there’d be some destruction / ‘Least then there’d be a famine. A coffin, a tear / More than I’ve felt this year / If the dam would break.”
Number 7: Kid Face from Kid Face (2013)
The centrepiece and title track of the 2013 release. At this time, Crain was approaching her thirties, albeit a few years away, but just there on the border. A coming-of-age album, or dealing with adulthood. The lyric “The idleness of old minds / Oh I’ve still got a lot of fight / Before I settle down” fights against it- and why not do so for as long as you can. Alternatively, is that Kid Face holding you back? Not if this song and the whole release are anything to go by.
Number 6: Elk City from Under Branch & Thorn & Tree (2015)
Under Branch & Thorn & Tree could have almost filled this whole Essentials catalogue. Elk City is a narrative covering a whole life in just under five minutes. The lyrics are almost overwhelming as Crain repeats over and over again “I can only stay one more night / Just one more night”. In the end, the subject of the song is the only one who doesn’t get out of Elk City. The boyfriend in the Colt Wagon, the guy at the Longhorn and her only daughter all escape, leaving her to endure a life passing by with resignation.
Number 5: B-Attitudes from Gumshoe (2025)
Crain explained at the Union Chapel gig that she became obsessed with the word gumshoe. It all stemmed from a detective-based computer game, where the characters were all called by that name. So obsessed that she called her 2025 album Gumshoe. Released on Real Kind Records, the collection was well received. B-Attitudes looks at the basic needs for survival and the worry that these needs will not be met permanently. There is a desperation in the repeated “All mine” lyric. The brass section stands out as Crain pleads for a forever home.
Number 4: Antiseptic Greeting from You Had Me At Goodbye (2017)
On the surface a jaunty pop tune complete with wood clicks, but under that veneer, Crain has produced another arresting piece of musical theatre. The lyrics focus on awkward social situations. Running into that person in the grocery store who you would rather avoid, or that person you had one bad date with. “But I seem to have caught someone’s eye / A guy that I went on one boring date with / I look like the sun is in my eyes / You had me at goodbye”. The sixties feel to the music, hinting at things snowballing and getting away from you. Listen out for how Crain’s voice strains at times, which just adds to the tension.
Number 3: An Echo from A Small Death (2020)
After multiple car crashes, months in recovery, and being unable to hold a guitar or write lyrics by hand, Crain returned with the exquisite A Small Death. The opening track is at number three. Kyle Reid’s pedal steel and Dan Walker’s accordion make this a thing of beauty before you add Crain’s poignant lyrics. Her voice is so delicate but rises to a glorious crescendo at the end. Just stunning, storytelling at its finest.
Number 2: Devils in Boston from Songs In The Night (2008)
This was my ringtone for many years. The opening guitar riff was perfect. From her first recording with The Midnight Shivers, a cautionary tale of places to avoid, railway tracks, willow trees and Boston. Moving away, losing those points of reference in a new town, all the insecurities flooding in as you begin a new life in the big city. Driving guitar, vocals dropping to a whisper at times and a magnificent harmonica, if you need a new ringtone, here it is.
Number 1: Joey from A Small Death (2020)
To see Crain perform this in the sacred confines of Islington’s Union Chapel was one of the musical highlights of this year, if not of any year. Just her on the stage in the spotlight with the stained glass window behind. Minor chord accordion opens the album version, and Crain strums chords. A song of friendship and longing for a nostalgic feel of how it all was, and a need to reminisce. “I am a revolving door”, sings Crain, as she wants to go around again, needing Joey to help with the process. An ode to her friend and former producer.
