“Gorgeous and moving… with an authenticity that is undeniable” – THE AU REVIEW
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Releasing her 2017 album The Water, singer-songwriter sweetheart Sam Buckingham distilled an ambitious pilgrimage to Latin America into a stunning collection of songs that confront fear, convey heartache and celebrate adventure, desire and devotion.
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Supported by MATCH Partnerships Australia and a successful crowdfunding campaign, Buckingham raised funds to record the album and take her band on the road to support it’s release. Touring consistently since the album’s first single dropped in February 2017, Buckingham has been keeping busy opening for Kasey Chambers, James Reyne, Jordie Lane and Diesel, showcasing at Nashville’s renowned Americanafest and embarking on three sold out national solo tours of her own. After 2 years of touring solo, Buckingham finally hit the road February 2019 with her studio band on the national Hammer & Love Tour.
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An account of her 18 months abroad – which included volunteering with Sea Shepherd in Honduras and completing formal yoga teacher training in Mexico – ‘The Water’ combines subtle rhythms and the emotive language of Latin America with fragile folk music, rousing Americana and pop inflected hooks. Hammer & Love was one of the first songs penned for the album, inspired by three months working at The Yoga Farm, a sustainable living project in Costa Rica.
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“If you want to live inside a story, feeling like you’ve always won
you don’t need a shovel and a hot head honey – you just need a hammer and love”
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After co-producing her Australian Music Prize longlisted album “I’m A Bird” with multiple ARIA winner Paul McKercher, Buckingham was clear on her vision for the The Water. “I sent everyone the rough demos with strict instructions not to learn the songs.” Buckingham recalls. “It was just about knowing the stories and really feeling that before we came together – so where to take each song was a very spontaneous and natural collaboration from the beginning.”
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Golden Guitar winner and ARIA nominee Fanny Lumsden and CMT’s ‘Nashville’ songwriter Timothy James Bowen feature on a pair of stunning duets alongside core band members Kent Eastwood, Dan Stanley Freeman and Syd Green – who also produced and engineered the album.
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Buckingham released the title track and first single January 2017 with the accompanying, self directed and edited video seeing Brisbane artist Lauren De Luca transform Buckingham’s face into a gorgeously sombre water scene. The release coincided with sold out single launch shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and, soon after, the album’s second track and forthcoming second single Living In The Dark was announced as a finalist in the renowned International Songwriting Competition.
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“Winsome songs delivered with empathic delicacy” – ROLLING STONE
“Her songwriting and astounding voice gripped me” – TIMBER & STEEL
“A breath of fresh air” – MUSIC LOVE
“Truly gorgeous… an album full of truth and strength” – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
“Compelling, beautiful… she’ll take you on a journey home” – THE MUSIC