Summer’s end bears a myriad of emotions. Wistfulness and longing, the anticipation of the changing of the seasons, finding calm in closure, and nostalgia for the months behind us. Samira Winter’s Adult Romantix intentionally finds us in our bittersweet end of summer state, meeting our fantasies with reality and hope with preservation.
Winter’s fifth album contributes to her time capsule of memories that are carefully revisited with presence and compassion to her current self. Her dreamy vocals have enchanted the DIY music communities from LA to New York, where she wrote Adult Romantix to capture the beauty and ramifications of re-locating and leaving behind the memories she developed for 10 years.
While preserving the varying forms of romance and hope are prevalent forces on the album, the aspect of duality across themes is the light that guides listeners into Winter’s thoughts, emotions, and inspirations. Days before its release, Liminul sat down with Samira Winter to unpack the daydreams and double-edged swords that come together for Adult Romantix.
Thank you for sitting down and chatting with me! I’ve read about loads of inspirations coming into play for this record, Elliot Smith and Sonic Youth to 90s rom-coms and French New Wave. While transitioning from a 90’s dream pop-inspired album and experimental electronic EP, when did those influences click for you that made you want to transition into an indie-rock, shoegaze sound?
WINTER: I feel like my north star is always 90’s-indie, shoegaze music, but I think with the EP and stuff, I was able to sort of experiment more, even just vocally. I was doing a lot of talking over beats and leaning more into trip-hop. I wrote the EP around the same time I started writing Adult Romantix. Some of those electronic songs ended up making it to the record, but most of them made it to that EP because it was more idiosyncratic. I think doing more experimental stuff made part of me crave a return to indie.
Films are always very inspiring for me. Watching a great film is probably one of my favourite feelings, it fills me up with a visual and emotional language that’s so subtle. I wrote this record over a two to three year period, and during that time, I was living in different places. I went to visit my friends in Europe after a tour and they showed me a lot of films. I was watching a lot of Éric Rohmer, who’s technically the last French New Wave director. I love French New Wave, but 90’s rom-coms have an interesting element on how you could interpret love–both the platonic and the romantic in different ways.
When I heard one of the songs that you already released, I kept thinking about those compilation edits people make of 90s rom-coms. I thought of the scene from She’s All That, where she’s coming down the stairs, or all those other cute little moments people put together. Those would play in my head as I listened to the songs you’ve already released from the album. I already had it in mind that you were inspired by 90s rom-coms, but it truly just felt so fitting.
WINTER: That’s so cool! It’s what I grew up on, and I think the big thing too about those 90s rom-coms, like 10 Things I Hate About You, Reality Bites, She’s All That–those soundtracks are really good. Maybe the things that you ingest when you’re a kid really do make an impact for the rest of your life, I really enjoyed kind of toying with that. Those movies can be problematic, but I’m kind of enjoying that romanticism with a grain of salt, you know? It’s been fun to dive into. I do think that millennials and people that are older, they understand that nostalgia.
You do see a lot of younger people really getting into those sorts of movies now as well, which is cool–I feel like everyone loves 10 Things I Hate About You. That’s one of my favourite movies.
WINTER: That’s one of my favourite movies too! You know, perhaps right now is a time where we do need some more romanticism. I think with everything we go through as a society, it’s nice to have a tinge of fantasy–especially these younger generations. They’ve been growing up in the 2000s, where the rom-com started getting a little bit more shallow, not that the 90s ones aren’t shallow, but…
They don’t have as much substance to them. This is the token “thing” everybody says about movies, but they are such a great way to just escape what’s going on in the world. I love a movie that you can think so much into and has so much relevance for things that are occurring, but I also sometimes really just want to watch something to escape and have some fun, we need more of that right now.
WINTER: Totally. I’m not saying “Oh my god, be an escapist” all the time–I’m not vouching for escapism, but when I started writing the album, I was very lonely and isolated. I had just moved to this neighborhood in LA that was really far away, and with where I was at, I survived by escaping through fantasies, memories, and films. It’s a good way to also just see where your imagination can go.
I agree! When you were watching or re-watching all these movies, listening to these different albums, and observing these different eras that you were into, from the perspective of writing an album, what did it feel like to take them in from an inspirational lens versus when you experienced them in a more casual manner?
WINTER: I do believe on some level, everything you consume while making an album, consciously or subconsciously, will affect the work. Along with French New Wave, I loved Fellini films–that dark, mysterious beach or those casual encounters where you’re wondering if they are friends? Are they cheating on someone? That sort of nuanced French Wave-vibe. On some of the songs, I felt like there were these different characters that I was either singing about or singing as my persona. Watching those films and the different characters, both men and women and the context of their relationships, intrigued me so I was able to slip in and perform them.
Were there any characters or actors that you were really into or that you resonated with?
WINTER: Winona Ryder was, and still is, a very big influence for me, stylistically and aesthetically. Éric Rohmer has a four-part series of films where each film is for a different season. In A Summer’s Tale specifically, there was a relationship between friends, but there was a vibe between them. It was just this genuine, beautiful, pure connection between the two main characters, and a lot of what plays out in my head for this album is a similar story. I guess it’s similar to 10 Things I Hate About You in a way. Once the album was finished, I felt that if this album was the soundtrack to a film, it would be an indie-rock music romance. People that are artists that fall in love, but maybe they’re just friends, and there’s an interesting spectrum of platonic and romantic. I was able to bring it all together into the album.
You did briefly touch on this earlier, but were there specific sounds or imagery from these different movies, albums, or other visual/sonic inspirations that steered you towards the contrasting intensity versus lightness that’s present throughout the whole album?
WINTER: I’d say ‘The Beach’ to me felt specifically inspired by a dark yet sunny beach. Another one, it’s not a film, but Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I re-read it when I was working on the album and I got more into that style. I started watching some horror films, but more art-house horror–very Gothic, romantic, mysterious, “what’s in the shadows”. I also love vampires. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is always a big inspiration.
I think a lot of the time with Winter, I love to explore darkness. This album has a darkness to it even though I believe my personality isn’t that. With art, I’m able to explore the shadow-side and that sort of doom. That’s the thing I like about horror films–the sense of doom throughout, but there’s still so much beauty in it. I was imagining what it would be like to explore those hidden corners of your mind, being in this dark forest, and all the things from your shadow self or subconscious mind coming through.
‘Hide-A-Lullaby’ and ‘Sometimes I Think About Death’ are sort of romantic to me. ‘Like Lovers Do’ has a bit of an edge to it. I was sort of just imagining things like love letters. The thing about Adult Romantix, it depicts a romance transcending time, it’s not limited to a moment.
One thing I gathered from both listening to and reading about how you’ve spoken about the album is that there’s a very clear theme of duality present. You said it yourself, you’re showcasing both a really intense love, but also the lightness that comes with it. How it oscillates between the highs and lows, and between a very passionate romantic intensity versus something more carefree and nonchalant. But there’s also a balance between nostalgia and presence.
WINTER: I love that you picked up on that. My first album of this trilogy/cycle of records What Kind of Blue Are You is a bit darker and this purity of what Winter is, the sound, and more of me in a cave during COVID seeing different shadows. With Adult Romantix, it’s the second album, it’s layered with duality. Presence versus nostalgia, fantasy versus reality, and platonic versus romantic.
It’s so clear, especially hearing you talk about flowing between being rooted in your memories but also trying to stay present to what’s real right now. It’s a balance I’ve thought of a lot lately–holding onto past versions of yourself with compassion while trying to be fully present and grow into what’s to come. How do you navigate that duality in your own life and in your music?
WINTER: I think this album actually helped me. This morning, I was thinking of when you’re packing and you find a memory box. There’s things that you may not want to remember, but then there’s things that remind you how special a moment was and it connects to who you are now.
With Winter, I write about my basement room and how that was a space where I was so inspired, where I would come back from a local show and write a song. It was where I had my first practices. That process is a good way to come to terms with everything you’ve lived, then you can have this sense of inner peace on where you’re at now. Even the things that you reject, or the parts of you that you’re happy you’ve moved passed–all of that is at least worth witnessing for a moment to acknowledge that was who you were. Past-present duality is really great for closing a chapter and having awareness of those people that made an impact on your life in order to be who you are now.
That’s so lovely, you have a really beautiful outlook on life. When you spoke to The FADER, you mentioned the specific meaning of Adult Romantix being “an early love that you had that caused an imprint in your life and your identity.” Tying that back into the theme of duality, specifically with that romantic intensity, how do you carry those imprints as your transformed self? Do you preserve them in some ways, or do you find yourself trying to loosen your grip on them to stay rooted in the present?
WINTER: I preserve them, especially with this album. I think I’m preserving it through the art, the songs, and the visual world. Finding an Adult Romantix couple for the album cover, interviewing people, and talking about them to cherish those memories, those imprints. I carry that duality with me in a way where I don’t allow myself to be jaded by negative things, like if something doesn’t work out, or love fails. I want to preserve the spirit of hope for love.
There’s a Portuguese saying “Que seja infinito enquanto dure,” which means “may it be infinite while it lasts”. Take it with a grain of salt, but in a pure philosophical sense, I think that sense of “may it be infinite while it lasts” allows you to feel all the emotions and desires, and lets those dreams come up through you. At the same time, be present in your reality and with what is, even if it’s not the way it is in your emotional, fantasy world. That’s the thing about Adult Romantix, some of the best things are ephemeral. They’re fleeting. The album takes place during this summer nearing its end, where everybody begins to wonder “Did I enjoy the summer enough?”
The release date is so perfectly timed.
WINTER: It’s been five records. I think with this album, I was able to be really intentional with that. Having it come out during that end of summer bitter-sweetness. All of this was me trying to do my best with the art that came through me, to try and be as close as possible to what feels right.
You also mentioned daydreaming is a huge part of your creative process. How do your daydreams shape the way that you see yourself? Do you see daydreams as a means to escape or as a method to come closer to some sort of truth?
WINTER: I don’t know if it really changes how I see myself, I think it’s a portal. It’s a part of myself that I like to preserve. It’s important to protect your inner child, your creativity, these things that our world really doesn’t value or support. Daydreaming is one of those practices, where it’s just something within me that I know is important, along with some other practices like journaling. Keeping that artistic side of myself alive came at an early age, I would play by myself a lot. I would just imagine I was in movies or that I was a bit older. I grew up around the pop era of the Spice Girls, so I’d dream that I was a pop star.
This is so Pisces-moon of me, but when it comes to daydreams as a means of escapism or a method to come closer to the truth, I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. Daydreaming has more intent than dreaming while you’re asleep. I think it can actually lead to the truth. Sometimes it’s through more subconscious language, they can reveal moments where you actually feel the excitement of something happening through a daydream. A person or something could appear and you may realize “Oh, I guess this is important to me. I would be so happy because I’m excited to just imagine this happening in a daydream.” I think that maybe sometimes escapism can lead to truth.
Definitely. I’m happy you said that, it’s interesting to see the way people interpret daydreams from a more observational perspective.
WINTER: And sometimes you have to. If you’re going through something hard, sometimes it is really helpful to try to imagine that ideal dream world, because it keeps hope alive.
That goes into my last question perfectly. You mentioned in the same interview with The FADER that you hope this album will bring a lot of love to people, or help people come to terms with old loves. What do you hope this album brings to you, post-release?
WINTER: I always hope more people find out about Winter. A lot of my fans comment that I’m underrated, which can make me feel sad sometimes, because I don’t know what else I can do. I’ve been doing this for so long. I hope that I can break through in some way to access more people, but my mission with Winter is to always perpetuate this cycle of dreaming.
I hope that other people can be inspired to make music, to follow through with their own projects, and to follow their dreams. I hope I can be a soundtrack to people’s lives. Whenever people tell me they’ve been listening to ‘Just Like A Flower’ this whole summer, that makes me so happy–to be part of your life in that way, to be a soundtrack to the moments that you’re living in this once in a lifetime life we have.
I hope that this album can just take me to more places so that I can keep making more albums and I can keep touring. I really want to keep doing this for a long time, that’s what I hope for.
Izzy Petraglia is a publicist, writer and photographer based in Toronto. Within her work, she loves to tie in her passion for music, fashion, and pop culture. Follow her on Instagram