In May 2020, after receiving a Resilience Fund grant from the Australia Council, Sam Buckingham setup up a makeshift studio in her living room to start pre-production on her new album Dear John.
Co-produced with long time collaborator Kent Eastwood, the album was originally going to be mostly acoustic and stripped back - a very traditional “singer-songwriter" creation. A week after pre-production began, Buckingham woke in the middle of the night and wrote a song that would completely change the course of the album.
“I wrote Run and all of a sudden realised that the album I was about to make wasn’t the album that I wanted to make. I had so much more to say and so many more sounds to explore. I scrapped 70% of the songs and started again.”
With Kate Bush, Solange, Coldplay, Cyndi Lauper and Phil Collins all serving as reference points for the sound on what would become Dear John, Buckingham studied hip hop, soul, rock, pop and feminist literature to create this stunning body of work.
Over two months of pre-production sessions, Buckingham and Eastwood created a blueprint of the album - working tirelessly to write every single part for the studio musicians to eventually play. Engineered by Paul Pilsneniks (Angus & Julia Stone, India Arie, Eric Bibb, Silverchair) at Rockinghorse Studios in Byron Bay, Dear John features trumpet by Ross Irwin (The Cat Empire, The Bamboos), Bass by James Haselwood (Tim Minchin, Kasey Chambers) and a who’s who cast of Northern Rivers musicians.
“Iconic” - Kia Handley ABC
The album stemmed from the breakdown of a relationship but, at its core, Buckingham insists that Dear John is anything but a break-up record.
“The relationship itself was emotionally and psychologically abusive. It was so toxic, but I didn’t know that while I was in it. I thought I was just doing something wrong” says Buckingham. “This album isn’t about the relationship though, it’s about me. I had to unlearn so much of what I thought I knew about myself, about love, and about being a woman in this world. These songs document my process of healing, learning and rising up to be the woman I want to be.”
Dear John represented a rebirth for Buckingham - as a woman and as an artist. With hook-heavy melodies and lyrics that make you shout “me too!” it’s the album she needed to make (and the album we all need to hear).
The album’s first single Something More, released April 2021, slapped fans in the face with a captivating one-take video that saw Buckingham marching down a Byron Bay laneway commanding and demanding respect. She launched the indie-pop anthem with a six-date sold-out tour (no small feat in the height of the pandemic). This was followed by invitations to tour alongside Kate Miller-Heidke, Paul Kelly, Tim Freedman, The Whitlams and Ben Lee.
The next single, Let It Burn, was shared exclusively with hundreds of fans that signed up to a five day online experience, where Buckingham invited the select group into her process of grieving, healing and rising up.
Dear John was released 8th April, 2022 and debuted at #2 on the AIR Independent Album Charts.
Buckingham hit the road May - September 2022, headlining a 24 date national tour. The year then closed with a seven week stint with the Festival of Small Halls and performances as Queenscliff and Woodford Folk Festivals.
2023 saw Buckingham lap the country twice on the third and fourth legs of the DEAR JOHN tour - and she returned to Rockinghorse Studios to record the self produced follow up to DEAR JOHN - “Cyclone”.
“With Dear John we were so particular about every tiny detail, and I was still feeling so raw from my experiences with ‘John’,” Sam reflects. “It was so rewarding, but also incredibly challenging. This time, I felt light. Cyclone felt like the next chapter. One season of my life is well and truly finished, and another has begun.”
A collaboration with award winning Brisbane based artists Emma Dean (piano) and Monique Clare (cello), the Cyclone EP explores classic piano-pop, borrowing influences from jazz, hip hop, gospel and soul.
Vending Machine, written on a cramped bus from Spain to Portugal reflects on the pressure we feel to keep buying more things in order to feel better about ourselves.
Warning Signs is a gripping recognition of the psychological effects of violence against women.
The title track, Cyclone, was written for one of Sam’s close friends, encouraging her to stay strong in the storms of hardship.
The EP’s final track Across The Line, a co-write with Melbourne based songwriter Ainslie Wills, explores self love and the willingness to fully express who we are.
To celebrate the release of Cyclone, Sam played a six date tour, selling out her biggest shows to date.
2025 will see the release and tour of Quiet Revolution - a four track acoustic EP where Sam explores capitalism, people pleasing, boundaries and the importance of self love for collective love.
“Masterful songwriting” - Kate Miller-Heidke
“The plain spoken piano of this EP hides nothing… powerful” - Bernard Zuel
“It’s raw and full of power which somehow allows the gentle to shine through” - Fanny Lumsden
"Byron Bay's next big thing” - Courier Mail
$5 from every sale of Sam’s Something More T-shirt goes to Mullumbimby District Neighbourhood Centre’s Women’s Resource Service
Many counsellors now recommend victims and perpetrators of domestic & family violence listen to DEAR JOHN - most notably, counsellors at 1800 RESPECT
The Dear John album and tour are certified carbon negative, through Earthed Consulting.
The Dear John project was assisted by the Australia Government through the Australia Council, it’s arts funding and advisory body.
The Dear John project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
The Dear John project was supported by fans on Patreon and through crowdfunding platform Pozible