Samsara

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"The last year has seen Samsara tour the UK supporting legends such as The Wailers, Pama International, Zion Train and The Dub Pistols, release their second studio album "The Great Unravelling", raise the roof at Glastonbury and countless other UK festivals and clubs, and establish themselves as one of the UK's most exciting emerging talents.

The collective creation of six modern-day wandering minstrels from Brighton with a love of all things syncopated, Samsara add ingredients from around the world and throughout the history of popular music to their reggae and ska-based recipe. Producing “a startlingly new angle on the Jamaican sound”, which embraces elements of folk, latin, rock, gypsy jazz and psychedelia, the result is a hedonistic fusion of styles which is both unique and instantly recognisable.

Following on from their debut EP, ‘Full Circle’, Samsara’s album, ‘The Great Unravelling’, was released earlier this year. From the eerie reggae-rock opener ‘Riverman’, through the carnivalesque gypsy-ska oddyssey of ‘Wandering Minstrels’ to the melancholic, folked-out serenity of ‘Row Row’, the album showcases the full spectrum of Samsara’s musical sensibilities with seamless ease.

The band are currently hard at work promoting the record with the help of their legendary and infectiously positive live shows. With appearances at Glastonbury, Shambala and Secret Garden Party under their collective belt, their reputation for getting heads buzzing and feet stomping has landed them support slots with the likes of reggae legends The Wailers, and made them firm favourites at venues and festivals across the land"

"As per the old cliché – everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in but amazingly there's no sense of messiness – it’s perfectly blended and should stand as a paradigm to anyone with pretensions towards being a successful crossover musician. I’d describe Samsara as a group that’s taken Reggae as their model and built on the style using musical genres from all over the world and throughout the history of pop music to produce a startlingly new angle on The Jamaican sound. They do this with much panache and the result is a great little album that deserves to be a great international success." Album Review 

"This Brighton based band were a whole heap of fun to watch. With their bouncy ska reggae beats, they were more refreshing than a glass of homemade lemonade. It’s no wonder that the crowd couldn’t help themselves jump a little higher and swing their hips a little faster."
Review of Sunrise Celebration '09 

"Samsara entertained the crowd very well with lively reggae/ska tunes that will make me search them out again, and clearly had pulling power as the crowd easily doubled in size by the time they’d finished."
Review of Shambala Festival '08 

"Samsara plunder folk, rock and psychedelia and take it to carnival to arrive at a polished finished product that defies categorisation outside of entertaining." Album review, Source Magazine

"the excellent Brighton reggae band Samsara, an outfit who do great credit to the enduring legacy of Jamaican reggae." Latest 7 Magazine

"Wandering Minstrels "

"Riverman"