Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The Paper Doll is a woman of glorious substance, one to whom the Blues creates images of importance and sizzling fortitude, and in which Samantha Fish refuses to be seen as just a 21st Century example, but to be recognised quite rightly as one of the most positive proofs of imaginative and fulfilling players of the genre of all time.
It could be explained quite easily by the listener as they take in the sound of the magician’s latest illustration of charm and breathtaking ability as perhaps just simply elegant cool; however there is so much more than that to the album and to her career overall, for as each moment utilises the sense of haunting groove and illuminating sound so the musician, the woman of prowess steps forwards and takes on all.
Samantha Fish’s Paper Doll Live, recorded at Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre, is full of desire, its intricacy is physically accessible and demanding, and that charm comes across in waves, fuelled by the guitar, hypnotising by awareness, and fully engaging.
Opening with Kick Out The Jams, Paper Doll, and Can Ya Handle The Heat, the crowd and listener alike are treated to an absorbing beginning which punches hard and with passionate verbal glances aiding the musical conversation.
With tracks such as Sweet Southern Blues, Bulletproof, Better Be Lonely, Dream Girl, Poor Black Mattie, and Rusty Razor adding immense depth and perception to the proceedings with formidable ease, never without the luxury of anger, always with the effortless guile of a genius at work. The album also reflects on the union between artist and audience, that whilst some recordings are memorable purely through the wrapped attention of those in attendance, meaning every word and instrument is heard in a sense of clarity, on this occasion it is understood through its sheer will, each line pounding, each note dripping with sincerity and finality of expression, never once being diminished by the occasion.
Paper Doll Live is that occasion, it is that event, and Samatha Fish is the woman at the very heart and soul of its dramatic performance.
Samantha Fish releases Paper Dolls Live on June 12th via Rounder Records.
Ian D. Hall