Samsara’s Swordfight thrives on contradiction. Across the London-based, Australian-born artist’s latest EP, maximalist electronic pop becomes a vehicle for examining identity, sexuality and transformation, with vulnerability and bravado sharing space in a sound that refuses to sit still. At 22, Samsara is building a distinctly theatrical pop universe, but beneath its glossy surfaces lies an artist more interested in emotional complexity than easy resolution.
‘Stab ’n Smile’ is the EP’s clearest expression of that tension. Propulsive synths and euphoric melodies give the track an immediate physicality, while its personal subject matter complicates the rush. Samsara’s commanding vocals hold everything together, cutting through the production with a directness that prevents the song from becoming pure spectacle. It is undeniably danceable, but its emotional weight lingers beyond the beat.
That weight comes from the unusually long journey behind the track. Known for writing and recording at speed, Samsara spent more than a year working through ‘Stab ’n Smile’, confronting her relationship with her changing body and the uncertainty of growing into herself. The extended process seems fitting for a song about transformation: rather than presenting self-acceptance as a clean resolution, it allows room for the discomfort that comes before confidence. Its eventual sense of empowerment feels earned precisely because the vulnerability remains audible.
Throughout Swordfight, Samsara treats pop as a space where those seemingly opposing states can coexist. The theatricality is not a distraction from the personal material, but a means of amplifying it. Big electronic gestures and infectious hooks give difficult experiences a sense of movement, turning introspection into something communal without stripping away its specificity.
That connection between personal experience and collective expression also informs Samsara’s work beyond the recording studio. In 2025, she became the first transgender musician to tour schools across the UK, combining performances with talks about her experiences in the classroom. Alongside her studies at King’s College London, she has continued to address identity, bullying and mental health, extending the themes of her music into direct engagement with young audiences.
Swordfight ultimately feels like a statement of artistic self-definition. Samsara is not interested in smoothing out the contradictions that shape her experience, nor does she need to choose between emotional honesty and unapologetic pop spectacle. Instead, she makes those elements work together, creating music that is as concerned with the complicated process of becoming oneself as it is with the release of a perfectly timed chorus.
