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 career-defining 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
“Byron Bay’s next big thing” - Courier Mail
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.”
The album’s first single Something More, 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 last year (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 closed with a seven week stint with the Festival of Small Halls and performances as Queenscliff and Woodford Folk Festivals.
2023 saw Buckingham touring in intimate acoustic mode - showcasing the album favourites and treating fans to a handful of unreleased songs.
2024 marked the release of Buckingham's follow up EP Cyclone, followed by a sold out national tour with Buckingham performing for the first time in intimate piano mode.
2025 will see Buckingham come full circle, with the release of her all acoustic EP Quiet Revolution.
“Buckingham wowed the crowd with her soaring vocals, silencing the room”
- Stack Magazine
Dear John, the album and tour, are certified Carbon Negative, thanks to Earthed Consulting
This project has been assisted by the Australia Government through the Australia Council, it’s arts funding and advisory body
This project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW
