Singer/songwriter bears his soul with admirable honesty

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Sometimes, dwelling on the backgrounds that mould a song or an album can subtract from the artistic merit of the project itself – but in Sam Wickens’ case, it also explains the mental journey he has come through over the last twelve months in particular.

It is true that NI Music Prize nominee’s work is vulnerable and honest – that it is imbued with feelings of pain and sadness that exist outside of his music. It is also true to say that the atmospheric soundscapes he creates are testament to his ability and invention as a songwriter.

Raw and emotive, his work is capable of shifting from somber and melancholic lulls to ringing, uplifting ballads that feel at times euphoric. It’s a transition he is familiar with.

Sam released Strange.24 late last month; it’s an echoing folk single that reflects on some of the trauma he has experienced in the last couple of years.

It is the first song from Watson, an EP scheduled for February 5. Comprising songs written during a very difficult part of his life, it is an intimate and revealing subject matter.

It is easy to tell from speaking to him, and from the openness and honesty with which he describes the period, that Sam is in a different phase of his life now.

“Throughout last year I was in a really bad place,” he admits. “We had spent about two years preparing the album [All I’ve Seen] so I couldn’t take any time to work on my own mental health.

“The entire way through it I was writing these songs that were really raw and honest but I had no inkling to release them or let anyone hear them – it was just to try and get me through the problems.

“I got treatment for my PTSD around November last year and then coming into this year I just had an overwhelming urge to share those songs with people and open that part of myself up. I got to a point where I wasn’t in that moment anymore. I was past it so I really just wanted to share that rawness with people and it progressed really naturally into the EP.”

Watson is a pseudonym that presented itself to Sam sweetly. Tied to his grandfather, the word grew in significance via the saved audio files on his laptop. Though it’s strange for Sam to recall his headspace at the time of those early recordings, he feels compelled to reference the time with the name of the EP.

“Whenever I was recording, I saved everything under the name of Watson,” he recalls.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.