shapeshifting is the latest album by Samantha Marie and is a mesmerizing journey into the ever-changing nature of human emotion and experience. The project, which began taking shape in the summer of 2023, finds its roots in the colors and moods that Samantha Marie channeled as she navigated a particularly dark period of her life. 

“Oftentimes, things start with colors, and I began writing with magentas, soft pinks and purples, and primary blue hues in mind,” Samantha Marie said. 

As illogical as it might sound, the songs in shapeshifting are really a colorful balm. Samantha’s voice, the instrumental, the arrangements, and the sense each song evokes, in fact, feel like navigating through oceans of colors.

The album’s cathartic nature shines through from the opening track “white” to the reflective closing song, “memoir to the lonely girl.” Each track feels like a sonic step toward healing, capturing Samantha Marie’s mental health struggles and her ever-evolving relationship with herself and the world around her. 

Through these seven songs, Samantha Marie masterfully captures the sense of being in constant transformation, reminding us that we are always shifting, both emotionally and mentally.

“The relationship that this album has with change is more accepting, this omission of change being constant and undeniable. We change with each experience, and with each moment we are alive. Impermanence. Things coming and going. Our thoughts are like clouds. This human experience, waves, movements of the sun, moon, and earth through space, and how our lives are a flash of light, a blink of the eye, to the lifetimes of say, the sun, or planets closer to it”, she pointed.

At the heart of the album is the title track, shapeshifting. Originally conceived as “melody,” Samantha Marie pivoted to this song after a late-night writing session in March 2024, with the concept of impermanence as the central theme of the track.

In shapeshifting Samantha Marie paints change not as a dramatic, singular event but as a continuous process, mirroring the fleeting nature of thoughts and emotions. This song, like the album as a whole, is Samantha’s ode to the power of acceptance and the inevitability of change.

With this album, full of nostalgic and emotive ballads, Samantha Marie demonstrates an impressive ability to make complex themes accessible through simple yet poignant lyrics. 

Her message of surrendering to life’s uncontrollable aspects resonates deeply, especially as she reflects on turning 24 and the lessons learned from growing pains. The honesty in her music feels palpable, offering listeners an invitation to find solace in their own struggles.

While the album holds moments of sorrow and reflection, it also sparkles with hope. Tracks like “memoir to the lonely girl”, “it's been so long (used to get me by)” or “shinjuku” in collab with Covey, give shape to a solid album, with a powerful, current, timeless message that is capable of connecting with different audiences.

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Photographed by Emily Wentworth