Album Review: D. Cullen - Sing My Story, Tell My Song

D. Cullen is the artist formerly known as Darragh Cullen, who has been enthralling us since his first album release at the age of 15 back in 2011, when I voted him Solo Male Artist of the Year. Well, it’s good to get it right at least once.

With some help from Boo Hewerdine and major hindrance from Covid, the multi-tasking Cullen had 40 songs amassed for this album, but has wisely slimmed the list down to a digestible and nourishing 11. They range across a broad spectrum of pop-rock/indie, from tender ballads to more up-tempo numbers.         

The dramatic opener ‘I Don’t Know Anybody Like You (In This World)’ hints at Mika double-jobbing with Queen, on a song that tests Cullen’s vocal range and finds him well up to the task. ‘All The People’ bounces its melodic charm off Tom Petty and The Beatles with some tasty harmonies and grainy guitars, and there’s a pacy urgency to the title-track, with its cheeky woo-woohs and D’s sparking vocals. 

‘I’m Not Leaving’ is a piano-driven gift revealing Cullen’s impassioned side, and there’s a psychedelic vibe to the blustering guitars on ‘Blue’, which mixes grunge noise with quieter interludes.

Despite being high on invention, Sing My Story, Tell My Song makes for an enormously accessible – and radio-friendly – experience, with every note, word and emotion earning its keep.

Listen: ‘I’m Not Leaving’
Score: 8/10

Out now.

Read more album reviews in the new issue of Hot Press.