Emerging from the tranquility of Suffolk, Samuel Taylor is part of a new wave of indie-folk songwriters finding beauty in stillness and storytelling. Blending finger-picked guitar, banjo flourishes and hushed, emotionally attuned vocals, his music feels both intimate and cinematic, rooted in the landscapes and memories that shaped him. Raised on bluegrass records and late-night jam sessions with his dad, Taylor’s songs carry a timeless honesty, pairing pastoral imagery with reflections on resilience, relationships, and the quiet weight of growing up. Now signed to No Roads Records, his debut Lost & Overgrown EP introduces a tender, painterly voice and worn acoustic guitars that conveys healing and renewal. Produced with a delicate touch, the collection balances melancholy with hope, inviting listeners to find their own stories within its gentle arrangements. For On The Record, we caught up with Samuel Taylor to talk songwriting, Suffolk roots and the journey behind the EP.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Samuel Taylor, can you introduce yourself?
Hello! I’m Samuel Taylor, an indie folk artist from Suffolk. I recently signed to No Roads Records, a local label to me, leading to my debut EP Lost and Overgrown, a collection of songs that range from reassured optimism to the most intimate parts of relationships with those around us.
Congratulations on the recent release of your debut EP, Lost & Overgrown! The title evokes very specific imagery, so does it refer more to a physical place in the Suffolk landscape or is it more metaphorical?
I suppose it’s a mixture of both, really! Lost and Overgrown is a metaphor for the feelings the title track contains. Although the first inspiration when writing came from the old vegetable plot at the end of my parents’ garden. So a real place sparked the lyrics, which then developed into the metaphorical meaning in the song. Lost and Overgrown is a song about the burdens some people carry from early in their life, how that affects how they act and deal with emotion, and how the others around them have to adjust. It’s about cutting that overgrowth and starting again.
If you had to assign a specific colour or visual texture to each of the four tracks, what would they be?
I was lucky to have Grace Hailstone, a great local artist to me, make the artwork for this EP. For each single, the colours were changed on the cover. That’s a really interesting question. I suppose when I listen to Lost and Overgrown, I think of dark green overgrowth. With A Thousand Times, I think of my old guitar I wrote the song on. It’s over 100 years old and has a really dark, battered, scratched top to it — I think of that. With I Just Hope, I think of the night sky. We get some really clear night skies where I live, out in the middle of nowhere. Finally, for Little World, I think of the handmade paper the original artwork was made on. The artist gave it to me once it was done and it sits next to my record player; I like to look at it while I’m listening to music.
‘I Just Hope’ deals with the helplessness of watching a loved one struggle, so how do you balance that intimacy without feeling like you are oversharing someone else’s story?
I suppose none of these songs are about anyone in particular. They are more about feelings and observations from lots of different things. With I Just Hope in particular, it’s about wanting to check in with someone you know is struggling or possibly going through a tough time. I’m sure we can all relate to that in some way. It’s about that feeling from my perspective — that difficult internal conversation while worrying about someone.
‘Little Word’ seems like the EP’s anchor point, so do you feel that set the direction for the rest of the record?
I wrote Little World third out of the four songs on the EP. It was different to anything I had really written before; it made me think more about the production process and more about the end result of a song. When I wrote a song before releasing music, its final destination was me playing it live. Little World was a step away from this. It then led to me writing A Thousand Times, which was much different to anything I had written before. Definitely a turning point in the writing for this EP!
Would you say that your background playing the banjo and bluegrass songs with your dad has influenced your current approach to music?
I think it has an influence in everything I write, may that be big or small. I very often find myself adding little melodies (or “licks,” as we call them in bluegrass) to my songs. If you look at lyrics from early bluegrass love songs, there is also a comparison to be made there, I think. A similar honesty in the lyrics, written almost as a way of processing feelings!
Can you think of a particular challenge you had to overcome while writing the album?
I wrote the single Lost and Overgrown before I signed to No Roads Records. After signing, I was writing songs which, for the first time, had somewhere to go. Having the project of this EP to work towards was a challenge I really enjoyed. Like I said with Little World, it makes you think much harder about each song as you write it. It’s definitely changed the way I write and listen to music!
Which song do you enjoy playing live the most?
I enjoy playing Little World the most. I would have said A Thousand Times, although that one is really hard to play live on the guitar! I definitely didn’t make it easy for myself. In particular with Little World, there is a moment at the very beginning of the chorus where you can really hold back before you sing the first line — I love playing that bit live.
What do you hope that listeners will take away from Lost & Overgrown?
I hope people listen to the EP and make their own connections to each song. I always enjoy it when people tell me why they have felt a certain way to a particular song. The experiences they relate to it are always different, but the feelings are always the same, which I am always happy to hear!
Following the release of the EP, what will be next on the horizon for you?
I’m doing lots of writing and I’m going on a little tour. I have some dates in London that I am really looking forward to, one at the Half Moon in Putney which should be great! I’m looking forward to testing out some of my new music live!
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