Monday 1 June 2020

MUSIC REVIEW: Remember When - Sam Sun


Sam Sun is a singer / songwriter and producer based out of Lagos in Nigeria. His roots have been around the hip hop genre but more recently he has been branching out into the world of pop music. Sun has been around since about 2015 when he did covers of hit songs – his best work was covering Justin Bieber’s hit single “Sorry” and this became a springboard for him creating his own work. In 2017 he released his debut single “Save” which got him nominated for an award for Most Popular Pop Artist in Southern Australia. His fame has to date been limited to Australia, Canada and his native Nigera but his latest release “Remember When” may just be what he needs to get more exposure in the UK and Europe.

“Remember When” opens with a very sombre sounding violin solo, Sun can be heard speaking softly in the opening lines of the song. It feels more like an acoustic track until the bass line gives the track much more of a pop / hip hop feel – Sun himself provides a rap over the verse.

The violin solo is very much a feature of the song as it fades in and out, as the bass line disappears the violin riff comes to the fore. It is a beautiful melody and Sun provides a real deep emotional attachment to the song – the lyrics “I am in pain” and “I’ll never fall for love again” make it very clear that this is about the hurt that accompanied the breakup of a relationship. “Remember When” being the line used to prefix the memory of all the good times during their relationship. Some very powerful and no doubt very personal lyrics.

Sam Sun is an interesting musician as he has a real ability to blend his undoubted passion into musical tracks – despite being known more as a covers artist, it is very clear that Sun’s real talent lies in his own musical creations and “Remember When” is the best I have heard to date. My only real criticism being that the track lasts a little under 3 minutes which is about the time when I felt I was really starting to understand it – I could have done with a couple of minutes more to complete the journey.

There is also a remix of “Remember When” as a collaboration with The Distance and Riddick which is quite simply sensational. The music sounds very much at home when mixed more as a dance track and it feels like it comes more alive in this form – it is almost as if it started life as a dance track and was then stripped back afterwards. I urge you all to check out the remix as well as the main release – you will not be disappointed.

Reviewer - John Fish
on - 30/5/20

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