A Quick Chat with Cahli Samata

For those just discovering you, how would you describe your sound and the world you’re creating as Cahli Samata?

I’ve called my sound “Cosmic Pop” because I like to blend elements of pop, dance and rock music with spiritual and spacey sounds to create songs that feel a little mystical, atmospheric and otherworldly.

I’ve always felt a little bit alien and regularly get lost in my own imaginary world. There I see all of the things I wish I could bring into reality. So now I’m trying to, through music and art.

I’ve always loved and wanted to make music, but I got more seriously into songwriting after my Mother passed away. It became my way to connect with her as I believe music has the ability to transcend beyond the physical. Soon it became not just about connecting with Mum but anyone who it might be meant to reach.

The world I’m creating is the one I want to live in. Where we dare to peep beyond the veil of our 3D existence, open our minds to infinite possibilities and try to understand the concept of a soul. We may never have answers to our big questions about life, but I will never stop curiously seeking them and music is my playground to do so.

Your new single “Blink Back” feels really cinematic and introspective. What was the spark that started this song?

The initial spark was when someone significant in my life suddenly turned silent. I was trying to make sense of how I could just be left in the dark. Without answers, you start to look for signs, a trail of breadcrumbs that explains everything.

I thought about The Great Gatsby spending his nights staring at the green light on Daisy’s dock. That’s how I felt, like I was holding onto hope, but knowing it might all be an illusion. Like Gatsby, I was searching for a sign. Something to blink back. That’s what originally inspired me to start writing the song.

As I wrote the lyrics, I realised the song wasn’t about the person but the deeper fears the situation stirred up: am I enough? Did I miss my chances in life? Can I still trust myself if I believed in a lie? Will I have the life I dream about?

That’s when it turned into something greater. A letter to God, to the Universe, saying “I’m here. I’m doing my part. In love, in music and in finding my purpose. Meet me halfway.”

You’ve described the track as navigating “spiritual silence”. What does that concept mean to you personally?

When my problems become overwhelming and feel out of my control, I often turn to a higher power.

I ask God and my Mum on the other side for guidance. Sometimes I feel like they answer. Sometimes they don’t. When it’s silent, it can feel like abandonment, and that’s what I would describe as spiritual silence.

It’s the sobering reminder that you’re the one who is meant to save you. Which can be both unbearable and empowering at the same time.

I don’t believe we are ever really abandoned. Sometimes we need the silence to push us to step into our power.

The imagery of light and signalling feels central to “Blink Back”. Why did that idea resonate with you?

The light on the dock in The Great Gatsby was the initial inspiration but as I wrote the song, the imagery morphed into a glowing red motel sign in the dark. This lonely, liminal space where light signals whether access is granted or denied.

Light as the central image fit in many ways. Light illuminates darkness. The light of the stars is used by people to navigate and find their way home. A lighthouse helps ships move safely to their destination.

Light is the heartbeat of the song not only visually but sonically. Every aspect of the music was designed to sound like light. You’ll hear the sounds of lamp pull chains, buzzing neon signs and an electric current that weaves through the whole track.

You wrote the song during a period of uncertainty. Did creating it change your relationship with music in any way?

I feel like all my songs change my life and my relationship with music. Songs are like children. You bring them to life, and they bring you lessons you needed to learn. Every time you make music, you learn something new about yourself.

But Blink Back definitely opened a new door for me. It’s my first dance track, and it helped me start pulling together this cosmic pop direction I’m creating. It made me realise I could keep the emotional and storytelling heart of my songwriting, but put it inside something more energetic and electric.

Blink Back also somehow became the answer I was seeking when I wrote it. I was questioning my purpose and whether music would ever be a path, and then a local stylist offered to help style my shoot. A local radio station offered to host a release party for the song. It really did end up blinking back in its own way, which was surreal and special.

You draw inspiration from artists who build entire worlds like MARINA or Björk. What does “world-building” look like in your own project?

I think of world-building as creating a space for your vision, uniqueness and point of view, when there isn’t a neat one to slot into. For me, that’s a place to explore the parts of my inner world that I can’t always reveal.

Like everyone, there are times where I have to present the “normal” me. But inside, I’m a live wire, feeling everything intensely, deeply analysing the world, indulging my secret fascinations with all things theological, supernatural or extraterrestrial and finding joy in things society tells us to “grow out of” like rollerblading and gaming.

So I’m building a world where it’s all free to exist. Where nothing is muted and everything is dialled up and open for exploration. A place for people who have been admonished for “overthinking” or being sensitive, who repel what’s shallow and want to dive deep and who refuse to be blunted and denied their fire.

Every song is its own world with its own imagery, themes and purpose, which I try to illustrate through not only the music, but all of the content and imagery produced around it. Unfortunately, my vision is often greater than my resources but I hope through persistence that will catch up!

You’ve said your music is for people who don’t quite feel at home here. What do you hope listeners take away from “Blink Back”?

I hope that Blink Back will become the signal that it is searching for. That it will find people who are standing in a transitional period of life and offer them the sign they’re seeking.

The lyrics never present the solution. The song itself is the signal. What I realised is when you’re staring into the distance waiting for a light to blink back, you can forget you’re standing in a completely lit room. Your dreams, your heart, the people who love you, that’s the light blinking back, waiting for you to see it.

What’s next for you after this release? Are we stepping further into this universe you’re creating?

Absolutely! I have song releases planned for the rest of the year, each of them a new piece of the universe, with their own unique visual and sonic world. Where Blink Back was the electricity, there are tracks like fire, water and the sky to come. I’m working with local designers, actors and other creatives and I can’t wait to share what we’re building together.