Waiting for the cheque to clear. Waiting for the muse to strike. Waiting for the pandemic to be over. Waiting for a sign...

Ever since pop began, a musician’s life has been full of waiting. It’s mostly pauses, down-tools, punctuated by occasional bursts of activity. It can sometimes seem like waiting is the dark matter holding it all together. But what if the act of waiting could be the inspiration, the work, the destination itself? On her new album ‘Waiting Rooms’ singer/songwriter Samantha Whates and her travelling troupe of fellow musicians pitch up in cold train station waiting rooms at midnight, ferry terminals off the Scottish coast, even a prison cell of a long closed jail. The result is a rather special record, a slice of filmic folk, an adventure in sound, a dark delight. And it sounds like nothing else you’ll hear this year.

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