Gently Tender + Naima Bock

Gently Tender is a British indie band featuring Sam Fryer, Pete Mayhew and Will Doyle (previously all in Palma Violets, alongside Celia Archer (from The Big Moon) and guitarist Adam Brown.

Gently Tender may seem like a fresh new band pulled together from time distancing themselves from the shadow of their former band, but in reality, it’s the sort of evolution they’d been teasing as those latter Palmas years wound out. After five years of a full-on ride to here, there and well – everywhere, it’s a time that an older Sam can sit and look back on with incredible fondness and perspective.

The roots of Naima Bock’s music are deep and far reaching. Born in Glastonbury to a Brazilian father and a Greek mother, Naima spent her early childhood in Brazil before eventually returning to England, bouncing around various homes in South-East London. This muddled heritage combines with more recent pursuits in Naima’s music; from the Brazilian standards (Baden Powell, Chico Buarque, Geraldo Vandre, Cartola, etc.) that the family used to listen to driving to the beach, to the European folk traditions she tapped into on her own, and the pursuits that interest her today – studies in archaeology, work as a gardener, and walking the world’s great trails – Naima’s music draws from family, the earth and the handing down of music through generations.