Today, JUNO-nominated gospel and soul-based group, Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, announce the upcoming release of their new full-length project, The Reckless One. Set for release November 20 via Gypsy Soul Records, the album will feature lead single, Don’t Have To Be. Sporting an earworm melody that will instantly have listeners humming along, the track features swirling Booker T-inspired organ, a swaggering horn line and Samantha Martin’s trademark hurricane-force vocals. Listen to Don’t Have To Be here.
“Don’t Have to Be is about confrontations, and how empathy and the willingness of both parties to see the other person’s perspective can go a long way in creating common ground and understanding,” says Samantha Martin.
Following the group’s JUNO nomination for their 2018 release, Run To Me, The Reckless One (Produced by Darcy Yates and Renan Yildizdogan) builds on the strengths and pure talent of Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar. The 12 tracks cover a lot of ground, including 12/8 gospel-infused soul ballads such as, I’ve Got a Feeling and Better to Have Never; funk inflected tracks like Love is All Around; stomping four-on-the-floor dance numbers epitomized by Don’t Have To Be; and the Wall of Sound influenced Sacrifice. Over the course of the album, the discerning listener will detect a variety of influences ranging from Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones and Otis Redding to Booker T. and the MG’s, and the Memphis Horns. One track – All That I Am – is even slightly reminiscent of early 70s Emotions. It is without a doubt that every track on this album is filled with powerful vocals and instrumentals listeners will feel in their souls and leave lasting impressions.
Having written/co-written 11 of the 12 songs herself Samantha has a deep and largely personal connection to this album. “After a series of intense tours and big changes in my personal life that left me feeling ungrounded and emotionally raw, I felt intense pressure to write and record another record before we lost the momentum,” Martin shares. “Those feelings were channelled into my writing, and it is a deeply vulnerable collection of songs for me. When it came time to get back in the studio to record the songs, I really let go of the process and put all my trust in the producers, and the band to help me realize the vision. I felt… reckless.”
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar’s debut release, 2015’s Send the Nightingale, was a stripped-down affair consisting of Martin, her two co-singers, and two guitars. For 2018’s Run to Me, Martin elected to record her emotionally wrought material with an expanded band, augmenting the core of Delta Sugar’s gospel-infused harmonies with a full rhythm section, piano, organ and an ever-so-soulful horn section. The Reckless One continues in the same trajectory, further expanding the palate of sounds with vibes, mellotron, Wurlitzer, Hammond and Farfisa organs plus strings.
Send the Nightingale was a stunning achievement which garnered four Maple Blues nominations in 2016, was regularly featured on the CBC, topped the blues charts on Stingray radio and propelled the group onto the stages of all the major Canadian festivals and clubs coast to coast. Subsequent to the album’s release, Martin was nominated three years in a row as Female Vocalist of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards. Continuing to build on the group’s steam rolling momentum, in 2019 Run To Me garnered another four Maples Blues nominations, a Juno nomination and paved the way for Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar’s assault on European club and concert stages. Starting with a blitzkrieg attack consisting of 42 club dates in six weeks in early 2019, three tours and a year later the group was being booked at a number of major European festivals.
Keep an eye out for more news on Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar in the coming weeks as their release is right around the corner!
