SAM RUSSO

PHOTO BY PAUL SILVER

Five years on from 2015’s Greyhound Dreams, U.K. singer-songwriter Sam Russo is bringing a new record into the world. Back to the Party is out now via Red Scare Industries, and with it, Russo fills in the blanks on his life since the last album.

“A lot has changed, but day to day my life is pretty similar to when I put out Greyhound Dreams,” he says. “I still work a lot, still live in the same place, still play a bunch of shows and tour as much as I can, still skate early in the mornings when it’s sunny, still play football with the same team.”

A great deal of Russo’s life involves community and his connection to friends. Back to the Party plays like a celebration of tiny moments.

“[I] still get together with friends for D&D at the weekends, and still always get a booth by the bar,” he says. “Still got love for the streets.

INTERVIEW BY JOSHUA MARANHAS

Still do most things the long way friends. Writing as Sam Russo is Russo is interested in people ’round, and still love making muusually isolated and kind of loneinterpreting his work for themsic, writing, singing, reading and ly, so I was keen to see if showing selves, but he has a strong point hanging out!” people what I was working on to make with Back to the Party would have a positive effect on about life’s everyday vignettes, Russo is masterfully articulate my writing, and, for the most part, the personal times. This work and exceptionally capable of it did!” takes the listener on a journey. setting these activities to song. Like tiny lights in a night sky, his Russo describes a lasting pic“The main theme of the record daily routines move closer to ture of the scene inside Half is the things you share with the his audience, then further away. Ton Studios in Cambridge, U.K., people you navigate life with,” He works with his guitar and his where the album was recorded, he says. “Thematically, friendwords to capture scenes on wax, taking in the temperature of the ship was cropping up a lot in the way a child might capture room, as well as the temperamy early demos. For the most fireflies in a mason jar and light ture outside. part, Back To the Party is about up the mind of listeners. the journey you go on with your “It was during the heat wave, so friends from 15 to 35. How you Russo explains the time and care I’ll always associate recording stay close to people you had he folded into creating this latest those songs with being blisssleepovers with when you were work. fully hot and lucky enough to kids when you’re in your 30s, be spending ten hours a day and life is almost unrecogniz“I’m not one to rush or write filler, tucked away from the world able and everyone’s off on difso I just took my time and grafted, playing and singing with two ferent paths. It’s not nostalgic, slow and steady,” he says. “I wrote people I bloody love,” he says. but there’s glances over the about 20 songs and trimmed “It was tough, and we had a reshoulder for sure. The title says down to ten that I loved. I experally tight schedule, but I loved it. it all really - depending on how imented a lot too. I wrote in way This record is drenched in sweat, you interpret it.”�� �� �� I wouldn’t normally. I collaboratand you should be able to hear ed a bit, and I took advice from me smiling at times.”