Northern Ireland-based singer-songwriter Sam Wickens, now working independently again, has curated a beautiful new tune out of personal experiences. 'The Devil's With Me Now' is a breath of fresh air, guaranteed to rotate in your head for days on end.

A slight right turn from previous single 'Civil', the Bangor native taps into the spirit of Jeff Buckley, the Lumineers, Damien Rice, Mumford & Sons and Tom Waits on the intricate track, which coats the struggle of addiction or dependance with much-needed empathy.

Frequently injecting his experiences of mental health and substance struggles into his songwriting, Sam's appeal and natural ability to progress his confessional craft stretches beyond the usual realms. 2021 single 'Murky Waters' furthered his rising star status, alongside 'Strange.24'.

"'The Devils With Me Now' is about my experience in turning to alcohol to isolate myself from others and the troubles of my life, only for it to become a bigger problem in itself," Sam tells Hot Press.

"I hate all that I wanna be/My life keeps bringing me down/I'm helpless but at best I just keep pushing things around/I guess I gotta get this off my chest/But I don't know how," he croons on the acoustic-orientated offering.

The mesmerising performer makes fine use of haunting melodies laced with poignant lyrics sung with trademark transparency to garner new country-folk audiences.

Compared to the likes of John Martyn and Death Cab For Cutie; Sam Wickens is a soulful writer and performer with a restless creativity, conveying a personal blend of Electronic, Soul, Blues, Gospel, Folk and Indie.

In 2017, Sam worked with legendary American record producer Tony Visconti (producer for David Bowie, T.Rex, Paul McCartney, Damon Albarn, Moody Blues, Marc Almond, Kaiser Chiefs) as a featured artist on a Sky Arts documentary about Tony’s amazing life and career: Tony Visconti’s Unsigned Heroes.

This led to Sam working closely with music icons including Stuart Copeland, Nitin Sawhney, and Imelda May, and performing live at Union Chapel, London supported by legendary saxophonist Howie Casey (Paul McCartney) and top afro-urban band the Compozers.

Wickens shared his enthralling, raw debut album All I've Seen back in 2019. The Down act's potential shines brightly on his latest single, which will surely boost his streaming numbers and audience members alike.

Check out the lyric video for 'The Devil's With Me Now' below.