Currently residing in Tāmaki Makaurau, Invercargill-born Sam Cullen is a continually evolving force of nature who seems able to pull another surprise out of the hat for us at every turn. The eponymously titled single Love Again is the promo track for his newly released EP. Roll up and get it all on the Spotty Fly (Spotify – I did a joke name).

Anyway, the title track is the new promo, as mentioned. We have some energetic, guitar based pop-rock with, in this particular case, a somewhat Americana tilt, I felt. It’s great. Sam is now fronting a full band, and this group is getting more and more tight knit as they play together, so Sam says. You’ll get to check them out in Aucks on 27th April at Whammy Backroom. Tickets from UTR, pop onto the website for deets. Marketing done, time to get granular about the song.

I was very much taken with how similar in timbre Sam is in this performance to early Bono. This is the October, Blood Red Sky, Unforgettable Fire era, when they were raw, fresh and highly charged with the emotion of their time. In other words I mean it as a compliment. Just for term of reference content though – Sam ain’t a Bono clone, and the music ain’t a U2 tribute. The EP was recorded between Parachute with Ben Malone and Harry Parsons, and by Sam himself with Chris Scott twiddling the knobs and flicking the switches. Chris Chetland at Kog mastered.

And what a good job too! I got that Americana vibe that I always like, with the guitars meshed and layered warmly over a resonant bass clicking well with some technically astute drumming. If your bottom end can’t gel, you’re not going to succeed. Sam has a rhythm section that’s delivering, so that Whammy Bar gig is going to be off the chain, I would expect. Despite the title, and the lyrical content actually, Sam has gone for a more up-tempo beat, which works nicely with the sweet-ish, slightly sentimental but hugely emotively charged melody. I did a double take at one point when I thought about some of the great mastering done by John Mellencamp – and then Sam sings a lyric about “Jack and Diane“! I must be omni. I don’t know what omni I am, but I’m definitely omni something, to have caught that one.

There’s a really cool video on the You Tubes for you to catch. A live action shoot of the band performing the track in a Warehouse, shot by Dave Thompson of Imaginary Friends. It’s the type of vid I like – no overuse of any flashy stuff, easy to follow and conveys a lot more message than one would realise. Principally I could see the band as being connected with one another, and enjoying the experience. Most importantly the whole unit looks cohesive and fully committed to the music. All suitably hairy faced, thoroughly enjoying themselves, and displaying their unity as a band. They give the visual of a band that will be good live – and Sam Cullen looks every bit the front-man in all the right ways. No ego. One piece of a cohesive unit.

Sam‘s explanation for the song is that it took a very short time to write one time while playing his guitar. The lyrics and composition came from his creativity in what he testifies as being in around half an hour. The feel of it, to Sam, is inviting and familiar, harking back to the music he grew up on. Me like that.

This track is a genre-crosser. It can sit on the Rock or More FM. The vid I am certain is going to go on high rote on Juice TV. It’s worth it, and definitely a great promo option to push the EP. I hope the guys are going on the road with the EP because they’ve certainly delivered in the studio, and although a music vid isn’t a live show, there’s a professionalism about them on the screen, and I think this is going to be a really good experience for everyone.

Well done Sam. This release is continuing that momentum toward the stratosphere. Keep watching, folks. Rock is happening here.