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Jo Samuels steps into focus with a run of singles, written and produced by herself, from her forthcoming debut album 'Otherside', shaping a sound rooted in electronic synthwave and melodic, story-driven vocals. Jo has previously collaborated with a plethora of musicians and DJs and performed on stages globally. Formerly fronting a rock band, Jo now enjoys collaborating with music creatives and not restricting herself to one genre.
You can find Jo Samuels here:
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Reviewed by Clare de Lune
Single: Before It's Begun
Opening in a wash of dramatic, neon-noir atmosphere, Before It’s Begun immediately sets its emotional tone somewhere between the club and a half-remembered dream. A bouncy, bright synth rhythm pulses beneath layers of shimmering sound, lifting the track into a trance-like state that feels both euphoric and slightly melancholic. It’s cinematic and immersive; music that glows rather than shouts.
Jo Samuels’ vocals float through the haze, carrying an ache with lyrics: “We’ll meet again one day. It’s over. Before it’s begun.” It feels like it's reflecting on a love that barely had time to exist. Tenderness contrasts beautifully with the track’s buoyant energy, as if joy and loss are dancing side by side. The atmosphere does much of the talking, balancing introspection with the physical pull of the dance floor.
Single: Pictures
If Before It’s Begun is the moment of realisation, Pictures is the release. This is electronic synth-pop built for movement, with a lustful energy that is wired for the dancefloor. It's upbeat with a sense of liberation, and it's easy to embrace the high-energy tempo as a musical embodiment of your own biological rhythm.
Jo’s liquid, velvet vocals glide through the track with ease, and are powered with confidence and intent. Desire and joy sit at the centre of the song, carried by a layered build to the chorus drop. The track evokes excitement and spark; the feeling when falling into your heart space for someone you want/love. 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 demands you to turn up the volume and connect your body with the pulse of the tempo, and soak in the neon electric blue pips that drive you to dance.
Single: #u
Where Pictures glows, #u lingers in the shadows at 3am. Darker and more intimate, it leans into late-night electro-pop, driven by a steady, hypnotic beat that underpins synths that feel smeared across a distorted, nocturnal palette. This is the sound of being alone with your thoughts while desire refuses to sleep.
The vocals feel close, almost searching, as Jo explores longing and uncertainty. There is a sense of a pure but fragile love, briefly held, then lost in a flutter, leaving a hollow ache in its wake. Lyrics like "Who are you with me / Who are you when you’re gone” land with quiet precision, circling questions that never quite get answered. with emotional tension, before dissolving into whispered “who are you” towards the end; a question that feels meant to slip into dreams and stay there. It’s seductive, introspective, and made for moving your body while your mind spirals. A late-night track that hits exactly when the lights are low and feelings are high.
Taken together, these three singles sketch a clear emotional arc. Before It’s Begun, Pictures and #u feel like different angles on the same story: connection just out of reach, moments that almost become something more. There’s yearning here, but also movement, with a sense of dancing through uncertainty rather than standing still in it. As a taste of her debut album Otherside, Jo Samuels proves she knows how to build mood and keep things moving, delivering modern pop with real feeling.
The singles are now streaming on all platforms.
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