Samuel Jack – shares the new single ‘California Sun’

Samuel Jack’s breakout single ‘Feels Like Summer’ has exceeded 100 million streams, and as the season arrives each year it becomes the soundtrack to a new audience’s life-affirming experiences with sun-kissed memories, first loves and unforgettable memories. Now Samuel Jack puts a fresh spin on that shimmering feeling as he shares his brand new single ‘California Sun’.  It comes ahead of his remarkable second album, ‘One Last Dance In The Valley’, which follows on September 25th.
 
‘California Sun’ is a tribute to the state that has become Samuel’s home-from-home: a place that has fuelled his creativity and kickstarted adventures that would’ve been unthinkable even just a decade ago. The song’s searing soul is powered by warm, organic live instrumentation and the full-spirited soul of his gritty vocal talent. It’s a song that captures the big dreams of Los Angeles life – but also one that can be a simmering summer soundtrack all over the globe.
 
Samuel says, “This song is an ode, a love letter, a thank you. No one knows me like California, and there’s nothing like the ‘California Sun’ to remind me to keep dreaming.”
 
An engaging live performance video of ‘California Sun’ will follow on Monday. It was recorded at The Crypt in London with his full live band.
 
As the song indicates, the ‘One Last Dance In The Valley’ album was largely written during Samuel’s time in Los Angeles. While The Golden State provides an evocative backdrop and context, the songs are dominated by his personal truths: love, lust, yearning, optimism, memories that should be forgotten yet still linger even when so far from home. All issues of following your heart and trusting your gut instinct. As he attests, he would love for the album to provide the comfort that his own favourite records have given him in the past.
 
And his influences are prevalent through the record, touching on Sam Cooke, BB King and Van Morrison. But its punchy, dynamic production roots in the present day, too. Whether he’s bringing big beat to the ‘60s R&B of ‘Sweeter’, exploring dub soul on ‘Easy To Me’, or merging pop and gospel with ‘At The Higher Ground’, Samuel’s voice is phenomenal.
 
He adds, “I feel like I’ve really come home with this record. It’s a collection of songs heavily inspired by my time and experiences writing in America and it’s unapologetically me. When I look back over the music I’ve written I think I’ve been pretty adventurous, I’ve never really stayed in one lane and I like that I’ve been eclectic and explored the craft of writing across different genres. But this new record feels like the one I was always supposed to write, it’s a soul record at heart and there’s no question in mind that I’ve never felt so authentically myself.”

Samuel Jack made the entire record with his long-term writing and production collaborators Owen Thomas and Lily-May Young.
 
Samuel Jack’s story started twenty years ago. Working in a pub, he decided one night to try singing at the piano with his best friend. At the time he didn’t stand-out, but that moment unlocked something within him. He vowed to improve and step-by-step that’s what he achieved. He’s still at it today.
 
He continued to grind, often writing in a rain-soaked caravan in England that’s about as far away from the decadent glamour of Los Angeles as you can imagine. And with a series of independent releases, people gradually started to pay attention. The turning point came in lockdown when ‘Feels Like Summer’ took off – and it never went away, resurfacing each summer and soundtracking 2 million fan-created videos across socials. His debut album, ‘The Gold & The Glory’, emerged in 2023 and now he’s again raising his game with ‘One Last Dance In The Valley’.
 
The emotional resonance of his music had made it a compelling choice to feature in numerous major TV shows including ‘Tulsa King’, ‘Walker’, ‘Lucifer’, ‘The Rookie’, ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’, ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’, ‘Shameless’ and ‘Waterloo Road’. 
 
‘One Last Dance In The Valley’ tracklist:
 ‘Sweeter’
‘Tennessee’
‘Wonderful’
‘Bad Love’
‘California Sun’
‘Where Would I Be Right Now?’
‘Brighter Days’
‘Hold On’
‘Forever On My Mind’
‘Feels Like Summer (…Again)’
‘At The Higher Ground’
‘Easy To Me’
‘It’s A Mad Mad World’

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