"intricacy and tenderness recalling kindred spirits such as Nils Frahm and Sufjan Stevens" - The Sunday Times

Electronic / folk artist Will Samson performs live at The Glad Cafe in celebration of new release Active Imagination, the follow-up to 2019’s Paralanguage, released via Wichita Recordings. Worked on across the span of one entire year – from January of 2020 through to December – it’s comprised of nine beautiful new pieces, and sits as a richly layered meditation on the idea of belonging, identity and the search for home in the most unstable of worlds.

Musically, Active Imagination bends subtly between folk and electronica, where little pulses of experimental flourishes sit next to Samson’s evocative vocals, and the record pulls many of its reference points from a number of the artists he’s shared a stage with over the years: from Bon Iver’s S. Carey, through to The Album Leaf, Olafur Arnalds, and Do Make Say Think.

Where previous efforts were informed hugely by his work with tape machines, here he uses more live percussion than ever before. His long-time collaborator Beatrijs De Klerck provides strings, Rachael Dadd adds subtle backing vocals, but its Will’s unique vision that gently comes alive throughout the album. Influenced by Sgt Pepper's and Luke Abbott’s Translate LP, Samson pushed himself to new heights, completely reworking and re-recording some initial tracks when he realised he wasn't creatively extending himself far enough.