As mentioned earlier, John K. Samson, leader of one of our all-time faves–The Weakerthans, just released a phenomenal new solo album, Provincial, on Epitaph-Anti Records.  Samson showed up recently at Exclaim! TV to perform one of the most affecting songs off the album, Letter in Icelandic from the Ninette San.  Though nearly indecipherable without Master’s degrees in Icelandic and Canadian history, Epitaph tells us that the song “is set in a tuberculosis sanatorium which existed in the small town of Ninette, Manitoba from 1915 to 1973. The…lyrics are sung as a letter written by a fictional Icelandic immigrant patient residing in the San[atorium], to his brother back home in Riverton, Manitoba, sometime in the 1940s.”  Huh.  All we hear is desolation and shatterdom.  On the plus side, Samson’s perfect, world-weary vocals and delivery leave us comparing plights and counting blessings.  Samson never fails to move us.  Check it out below.

Update:  Exclaim! TV has now released the companion song to Ninette San, When I Write My Masters Thesis.  Check it out after.