Photos: Sam Shi Releases LIVE FROM SANTA MONICA Acoustic EP and Film

Artist and producer Sam Shi releases Live From Santa Monica, a six song live EP and performance film out now via her own label, But Did You Dance. The set arrives three weeks after lead single 'Comfort Zone,' which opened the door to this side of her project on September 18.

Live From Santa Monica, recorded at Red Bull Music Studios, came out of one live session on the California coast, where Sam Shi and her band played the songs straight through and let a camera catch it. 'Comfort Zone' was the only new song to come out of that day. The other five, 'Judgment,' 'Perfectionism,' 'Unbury Me,' 'PETTY,' and 'No Love,' already lived in her catalog and return here stripped down to the room they were played in, closer to how they sounded live than how they sounded on record.

Sam Shi shares the idea behind the project. 'Songwriting has always been at the heart of my music, even when it exists in electronic form. I wanted to strip everything back and show people a rawer side of me as an artist. We recorded everything live at a beautiful studio in Santa Monica, a few takes per song. The set opens with the full band, pares down to an acoustic performance of Comfort Zone with just me and Eric, and ends with me alone on the grand piano. This performance is part of the foundation I'm building my next chapter on. I'm betting on myself and going all in on my music, built on six years of learning to trust my own voice as a songwriter and producer. I feel so motivated to continue learning, growing, and sharing my voice with the world. And, I look forward to engaging in conversation with peers and music lovers about music as a medium to discover our true soul purpose here on this Earth.'

The performance film captures the full session start to finish, matching the EP track for track.

The project follows a summer where Sam Shi lent her voice to two of dance music's most respected rosters, singing on Nico Szabo and Aske Izan's 'Aside' for Anjunadeep Explorations and Enamour's 'What U Said' for Crosstown Rebels. Live From Santa Monica runs on a different side of her project, the singer and songwriter foundation she has built in parallel with those features.

Live From Santa Monica is out now via But Did You Dance.

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About Sam Shi

Sam Shi is a Los Angeles-based artist, DJ, and producer creating music at the intersection of alternative songwriting and underground electronic culture. Born in Honolulu, raised in Sweden, and shaped by years living between disciplines, countries, and identities, her work explores the tension between control and surrender, intellect and embodiment, movement and stillness. Before fully stepping into her artistic life, she built a successful career in tech, studied physics and interactive media, became a certified yoga teacher, and developed a deep fascination with the ways people disconnect from themselves and find their way back. That search lives at the center of her music.

Whether performing with a live band or behind the decks, Sam Shi creates experiences that transform introspection into something physical, inviting listeners not to escape themselves, but to feel more deeply. Following three independently released albums and international performances, she enters this next chapter off the back of fresh releases via Anjunadeep Explorations and Crosstown Rebels, most recently lending her vocals to Nico Szabo and Aske Izan's 'Aside' and Enamour's 'What U Said,' released earlier this summer. She is building more than a music project. She is creating a world where depth and joy, vulnerability and power, can exist in the same room.

Release Date: October 9, 2026

Label: But Did You Dance
Artists: Sam Shi
Genre: Indie, Pop, Downtempo Electronic

Tracklist

1. Judgment

2. Perfectionism

3. Unbury Me

4. PETTY

5. Comfort Zone

6. No Love