Sammy Mellman is a New Jersey-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and high school music teacher. Obsessed with strange chord progressions and melancholy hooks, with a knack for 4-part barbershop harmony, he came to a well-regulated and resonant sound performing solo trombone looping arrangements throughout the 2010s. He began exploring songwriting more earnestly leading up to 2020. Taking most directly after some Great American Songbook sensibilities crossed with more contemporary bedroom-based projects, he composes scenic, wistful, and diary-like tunes that invite the listener to both escape and appreciate the natural world and present moment.
Mellman’s new single, “Well,” is a stunning example of the nuanced fusion work that flows through his pop-leaning tendencies. The lush horns play off the breezy vocals in a way that feels familiar and refreshing all at once, a testament to Mellman’s songwriting ability. What feels like a playful pop tune hellbent on getting stuck in your head is more of an exploration of the complexities of relationships. The lyrics tell a tale of disconnect as Mellman attempts to make sense of a mysterious person, but the story doesn’t end with the lyrics. The way the artist’s pure pop melodies still feel soulful is a disconnect in itself, but one we’re not running away from. Like magic, Mellman can combine his wide-ranging influences and filter them through the simplicity of bedroom pop without relying on the lo-fi tropes of the genre. “Well” is a hypnotic single that positions Mellman as a soulful songwriter who builds whole worlds with his words and changes the environment with his all-encompassing sound, and it seems like the artist is just getting started.
“‘Well’ is the most recently written song in a collection of otherwise older gems that have stayed meaningful to me over the past few years that I’ve been putting this record together,” explains Mellman. “It’s also the one song I knew exactly how I wanted to present from an arrangement perspective, given the centrality of the trumpet melody — I multitracked all of the parts in one morning at my friend’s studio in Queens, and there’s something that feels particularly organic about the track as a result. I listened to Sufjan Stevens a lot growing up, and I think the fanfare-like nature of this song, plus the shy character, likely carries some stylistic influence from him and may hopefully appeal to fans of his and beyond.”
