Say Or Do, the brain-child of well travelled Kiwi guy Sam French, has already made a splash around the country with its first release, the EP Watching The World Pass By, ten years ago. Sam certainly didn’t live by the title, subsequently getting on his bike and seeing the world.

The time spent overseas, and in his other project Silence The City, have obviously honed Sam’s songwriting and performing skills even more so than before. The EPK on Sam’s site gives a great rundown on the orchestration and engineering intentions of the song. To me it gave an immediate vibe of something that embodies the whole Kiwiana vibe. There’s a touch of Pasifika in there in the rhythm section, tied in with some Dunedin and Wellington rock sound.

A great blend of subtlety in the orchestration itself, building the guitars nicely. A fat and full bottom end gives it weight and keeps it humming along well enough for one to appreciate how it could be received live – which I think will be very well indeed. A sing-along chorus will help that, and one that has the potential for audience hand-clap to the rhythm will make this a crowd favourite.

I did have a tiny issue with the lyrical content of the pre-chorus/first chorus, in that it felt a little crowded. In saying that, I also feel I’m being unfair as it’s a really catchy song and I think I’m being petty in allowing the comment to stay. I’m going to though, because it’s a good example of the fact that every reviewer and every listen is an exercise in subjective interpretation.

If good, atmospheric but not dark, Kiwi rock is your cup of tea, you are going to enjoy this. Follow their socials for live dates. Something tells me you’ll enjoy big time.