Ahead of his performances as part of C2C, we had the chance to talk to Sam Williams about the deluxe version of his debut album – Glasshouse Children – how his heritage has shaped his music and what’s next.
Welcome back to the UK. Congratulations on the new single – can you talk a little bit about the track and writing it?
Yeah, so ‘Lost Its Allure’… I think that I’ve just gone through such a lot of loss and grief in my life in such a short amount of time, so life has just changed so much, I don’t think that I could adapt to it in a week or two. It was just a feeling that I’d had, I just felt like I’d lost my sparkle and shininess and how did I get that back? It’s just a song that I wrote about that that I thought was just important to share.
It’s so important, I know that you really do delve into the depths of pain in your music, you don’t just go surface level. Has that always been important to you in your music?
Yeah, I want to connect with the listener and be as honest as I can. I always want that authenticity to come through in my music – whether it’s a sad song or not, that level of realness to always be there.
You must have had so many stories about your music reaching people
Yeah, someone was just talking to me today about how ‘Fool Your Own Blood’ was so special to them in their relationship and their family. That’s just amazing.
I feel aesthetically, you really seem to have evolved with this song. Is that something that’s also important to you, to visually create eras in your music, as much as sonically?
Yeah, I mean it has to evolve, but it also has to be real – I can’t just manufacture a new look and a new sound. I just let it be real and let the change show. Yeah, the new album that’s coming, there’s still lots of sad songs, but I do think it’s evolving from how it started.
Obviously, Glasshouse Children was the big introduction to you and your music that you continued in the deluxe version, with ‘Tilted Crowns.’ Can you talk a bit about the deluxe version and what you wanted to achieve in the addition of those songs?
Yeah, I just had more to say and I know I needed new music out and I thought that that was the best way – rather than starting a new project. I felt that I really wasn’t done in telling the ‘Glasshouse’ story yet, so I just needed to kind of tie a bow on it and push it out. I’m really happy with how it turned out.
I think part of the allure of that project is that you are really part of the vanguard of artists changing the face and sound of what it means to be an artist in country right now. Obviously, you have this rich heritage behind you but do you feel a degree of responsibility in leading country into this new realm?
Yeah, I just do my best to be myself. I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking how to be more country and how to be more like a certain person. I just don’t see that for myself – to be more like the next person, the more unique and special it is the better. I don’t want to remind people of someone else. I want them to be dumbfounded and think that they don’t know anyone else like this.
We can’t not talk about the masterpiece of the song – Tilted Crowns – can you talk a little about what that song meant to you and come out in that way?
‘Tilted Crown’ is just a story of redemption and regaining confidence. I never planned on coming out as gay in the video, but that was just what we wrote in the video and I just thought that it was the best thing to do. I speak so much about authenticity, if I didn’t show that part of myself, I just felt like I was hiding.
It was so perfectly done. Now that the album is out, what do you feel that record did for your career?
It really helped me get over imposter syndrome, wondering if I was a nepotism baby and I felt like I was able to put down a foundation of writing and artistry and creativity.
It felt like you already knew who you are before you released the debut.
I felt like it was iconic. You know the saying of having a life to write your first album, now I’m working on the second album and it’s a little more difficult. What to I want to say exactly now? Have my sad songs, but also have the more upbeat songs and the opportunity to grow more commercially as an artist and move from independent to mainstream in my music as well.
Going into the next phase then, what can we expect?
I would say it’s more dreamy. It’s more explorative and the longing is still there, it hasn’t gone anywhere, but it has to grow. It’s been a tumultuous few years for me personally, so I feel like it’s been a rollercoaster.
Thank you.
