by Mike Romero
Last year, emerging South London songstress Samira dropped her debut EP, Dancefloors & Drama Vol. 1. It featured collaborations with pop hitmakers behind tracks from the likes of Kylie Minogue and Ed Sheeran, and earned rave reviews from the press.
Now, Samira is back with the fiercely groovy "Valentine's Day (I Ain't Got Time For That)." A dancefloor anthem for the heartbroken, there's literally no better day to share it than today. It's based on a real-life breakup that landed Samira in the studio instead of at a fancy date night dinner.
Today, we're taking a deep dive into Samira's discography and some of her biggest influences.
<h1>SAMIRA'S MUSIC</h1>
Tell me a little bit about "Valentine's Day (I Ain't Got Time For That)." How happy are you that it's finally out in the world and you're getting your revenge? What was it like to write with Jonny Parry and what fresh sounds did Jeff Sojka bring to the mix?
It’s one I wrote and recorded on Valentine’s Day last year after being ghosted by the boy I was seeing. I knew when I wrote it that it’d make sense to come out around Valentine’s Day, so I’ve had to be really patient, but it’s great having it out now. It’s such a fun track to start the year with. Jonny is a master of bringing that "live" sound to pop music, and so he was really instrumental in how kind of "funky" it sounds, with lots of bass and guitar. And Jeff is just such an incredible mix engineer. He just gave that track a final bit of gloss, and made it sound like one of those big US pop songs.
Your most popular track to date is "I Love Your Smile." Tell me a little bit about the making of this track. Are you surprised at all by its reception? I personally love the layered doos and whistles. The chorus had me humming all day.
"I Love Your Smile" is always the little Easter egg that keeps popping up, and it’s so great that it’s still doing so well. It was one of my first proper times in the recording studio as a solo artist, and it was such a good, formative experience – just a really fun song to record, and one that literally took a few hours in the booth at most. I feel like it’s resonated so much with listeners because, obviously, the original version is such a classic, but also because it’s just such an upbeat and feel-good song you can’t help but dance and smile when you hear it. I love that it’s so so catchy. Listen to it once and it will definitely stay in your head for months.
"I Love Your Smile" may be your most popular song on Spotify. But what is your personal favorite? What's a deep cut you love that you wish got more attention?
One of my personal favourites is "Broke Me Good" from my first EP. It’s quite a deep song – quite sad and emotive – and I love how rocky the production is. It’s quite dark lyrically if you really listen to it, with a subject that I hope is really relevant to people. I wrote It hoping it would connect with people and I did have so many lovely responses when it came out, but it’s one that I wish I had gotten more attention because I think that song is brilliant. It’s dramatic, it’s emotive, and it’s super catchy as well.
<h1>SAMIRA'S INFLUENCES</h1>
Tell me about a song from another artist that got you into music. Why was it so impactful?
I was quite young when I realised I wanted to do music – I was very much a Disney channel girl, pretending I was Hannah Montana. But one of the albums that had a real effect on me as I got older was Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman. It really takes me back listening to it now. It’s just incredible pop music – really well crafted songs, big middle 8’s, great production, and really interesting lyrically. It’s the album that really made me realise, "Oh yeah. I need to write bangers like this. I need to be a pop sensation like her."
The song "Into You" I just love. It’s just such a big, unapologetic pop song with that big climactic melody and lyrics that take you up and up and then really explode at the top. It’s one you can’t help but sing at the top of your lungs.
Name a song from another artist that had an influence on "Valentine's Day." What inspired you? What textures or production techniques did you attempt to emulate?
I knew I wanted that "live" sound to this track, and I think I’d been listening to things like "Say So" by Doja Cat and also "Feather" by Sabrina Carpenter around that time. Some of Neiked’s stuff maybe as well. You never go in and try to emulate another artist, but I think it’s natural that you’ll be inspired by other music you’re enjoying when you’re writing. I really wanted that tongue-in-cheek, cutesie kind of vibe to this one, which I think Sabrina is so good at, and we definitely worked a lot on the stacking of harmonies to make it sound really sweet alongside things like adding off-the-cuff little spoken word excerpts to bring humor into the track.
What's a song from another artist that you can't stop listening to right now?
From the dance side of things, I always say that I’d love to work with Calvin Harris or Jax Jones. They’ve both released some absolute bangers. But at the moment, I literally cannot stop listening to "Messy" by Lola Young. Literally, every single day, five times a day, I’m singing this song at the top of my lungs. It’s an anthem. I think the writing is so clever – it’s just so real and I think the melodies are just beautiful. I did a little cover of it on TikTok which she reposted, and I just think she’d be great to write with.