Portland three-piece Sama Dams accepted a challenge that ultimately led to the first single from their new record, Comfort In Doubt, out next Tuesday, November 11.
"My Ears Are Ringing" was first conceived during the "20 Song Game," says singer and guitarist Sam Adams, which is a game the band likes to play with their musically inclined friends. "It involves isolating yourself for 12 hours in an attempt to write and record 20 songs," Adams explains. The result is the first assault from Sama Dams' moody, angular-yet-symphonic prog and post-punk second full-length effort.
"The initial stream-of-conscious inspiration was that I had just been recording with my headphone mix up too loud," Adams continues. "But the song gained significance as we continued to write the rest of the new record and the theme of trauma and abuse kept on emerging as a common thread. We meet a lot of musicians on the road that experience tinnitus and hearing loss. It's easy to get lost in that physical feeling—being actually penetrated by the music you're making time and time again. And I'd say that losing a part of yourself for something or someone you love is a pretty universal thing."
Alongside drummer Chris Hermsen and organist and vocalist Lisa Adams, the band is currently back east prepping to celebrate the record's release in Brooklyn. But, they'll be home by December 17 to do the same at the Doug Fir Lounge with Grandparents.
