AOTW #9: 'Young Man in a Far Away Town' by Sammy Luka's Sundown Band

by Cooper RH

Sammy Luka’s Sundown Band (formerly known as Sundown Ever Sundown), has been a staple of Newcastle Music Show rotation since our inception back in 2021, with Sam Ferfolja starting the project (releasing songs from six months ago…) the same year that Campbell and I began NMS, so I will preface this with the warning that I am and will forever be a massive fan of anything Sundown Band related.

There’s a certain magic that Sam has when it comes to songwriting. Many of his tracks are filled with a relatable and confident self-deprecating quality that really help lean into the folksy-tinted misty-eyed acoustic-rock sound that this album is full of, this shines through most brightly on Song About Artistry a song about… (come on it’s in the title) a song that dwells on the dilemma of “well yeah playing original music is cool, but the people wanna hear the hits!”.

Back to the beginning though, Mr. Sundown kicks off the second track Wedding Shoes with “I came to the city 10 bucks to my name, I’m leaving the city much older but the same”, a feeling of feeling stagnant in your 20s is consistent through this song. 

In many ways this album (in my eyes) is a love letter to the artist’s, at the time, adopted home City of Melbourne. Sound of the City opening with its goosebump inducing “oohs” and “aahs” that sway alongside the guitars, and Sam on vocals voicing his love for the company that a city provides the lonely soul:

“Sound of the city/ I need you right by me/ hold me tight my darling/ hold me tight/ at least i know that I’m never gonna be alone”

Shifting up a gear into a more rocking ballad halfway though, Sams beckons you to listen to the city, really upping the revs on the yearnometer. Breaking out into a (one of many on this album) ripper guitar solo outro which even includes the guitar line from steel city blues from back in 2021, like a memory of home populating your thoughts in a distant city.

There’s a break from the ballads, with the garage rockin 'tune called Kangaroo in a Body Bag, before getting back into the sway of things with Best Years, a solemn break-up track souring on perceived lost time after a relationship. But the Love Don’t Stop (sorry) on the next track, which acts as a counterpart to Best Years, with the sour-faced feeling fermenting in an intoxicating feeling of lovesickness. If you’ve experienced post break-up regret you’ll know this feeling all too well!

Closing track Remember? consistently hits me right in the guts since the first listen, an ode to homesickness of Lake Mac/ Newcastle/ Coastal Australiana:

“Can you still hear the sounds of lorikeets, filling up my street?

Now it’s sirens from the MCG”

Throwing back to memories of summers spent at the beach (something Melbourne lacks), quiet streets, open bush, and replaced with the maze of a grid-based city overfilled with cafes and trams. There’s a guitar lick from beaumont street from songs from six months ago… that really caught me off-guard the first time I picked up on it, a final piece to the mosaic of memories listed on this track. No matter how much we run from it, our personal history plays an important part of who we are and the people that we have become in the present day.

You can stream 'Young Man in a Far Away Town' on all good (and bad) streaming services.