A Chat with Callum Sutton (11.08.25)
Callum Sutton, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, is back with the fourth single from his upcoming self-produced album, The Union. The newly released track, ‘Give You Something’, channels gospel-infused soul and rootsy rock ‘n’ roll, pairing it with lyrics shaped by more than a decade of personal and artistic growth. We chat with Callum Sutton to discuss all things music.
OSR: ‘Give You Something’ has such a powerful emotional arc. Can you take us back to when and where you first wrote it?
Sutton: Yes, I can, and it definitely seems like a different life to me. It was a time of pretty wild and prolific lyrical creativity for me. I was living hard, experiencing a lot and would get these surges of inspiration for songs at the end of most days. I wrote the lyrics for this one as one of three songs I remember writing on the same night – you tend to do that when you’re young! But I could never quite wrap the music around the lyrics in a way I felt was right; it took another 10 years of absorbing music and practising on my instruments to achieve that. I think you can hear the commitment to the muse in the sound.
OSR: How did your time busking in Canterbury shape your songwriting, especially in this track?
Sutton: The main effect it had on my songwriting was giving me the time to experiment without too much pressure from an audience. I would try a lot of different styles and genres of music out on the streets and see what worked with people passing by and what musically turned me on as well. So when it came time to write the musical side of a song, I had a lot of different ways I could approach it, and I liked playing with and melding those options together.
OSR: You’ve said you were listening to T-Bone Walker, Little Milton, and Dylan when writing this. How do their influences come through in the song?
Sutton: With T-Bone, I have just a strong memory of having him on vinyl and playing him a lot where I was living at the time. I use blues music to unwind quite a lot. I don’t have to think in terms of melody and structure with the blues, so I listened a lot to T-Bone when I wanted to give my brain a rest from my own ideas. I’m sure some of his grainy sound got into my vocals! Little Milton is someone I admire who is a great blues singer and guitarist, but knows how to write a good soul chord progression too – and deliver it in the performance. I learned from his whole approach. And Dylan is a massive influence, mainly in his lyrical ambition and allowing space in a song for wild poetic imagery.
OSR: The extended outro is incredible. What was the vision behind building it out like that?
Sutton: I like to leave space at the end of a song often for the groove to breathe and to have fun bringing elements in and out, like the harmonica solo. I just picked up a harmonica in the studio and did it in one take; it was never planned, but it ended up on the final version. The backing vocals and chord progression are gospel inspired, and I chucked in a couple of Stevie Wonder-type chords in the harmony just to see how it would change the sound. So I was just experimenting, really.
OSR: There’s a clear gospel and soul thread running through the song. Was that always the intention, or did that evolve during production?
Sutton: I definitely had that in mind for the outro, but the groove overall ended up leaning more in the gospel soul direction than the blues rock I had initially expected – I’m happy it did, I’m heavily influenced by soul and gospel. Aretha Franklin ticks all the boxes for me, as does Al Green, Solomon Burke, Johnny Adams, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, The Temptations, and I could go on. All these people have contributed to my sound in their singing, songwriting, production and arrangement styles.
OSR: Can you walk us through the recording process at Unity Sound Studios?
Sutton: We laid down the track along with the 9 other songs on the album as a three-piece, me, drums and bass, live in one day. Then we redid the lead vocals and guitars, got the backing vocalists in and did percussion and Hammond B3 remotely. I did the harmonica into the mics the horn player was using on the day he came in to layer parts for other songs on the album. Then we worked hard on the mix, bringing things in and out, trying to create space and mood and texture. So we built it up piece by piece and chipped away at it during the mixing.
OSR: You played vocals, guitar, and harmonica on the track. How does that level of personal performance affect your connection to the music?
Sutton: I enjoyed having such a large part to play in this song. Mostly, I liked being able to record both the electric guitar and acoustic guitar and letting one play off the other. I arrange nearly all the parts for my songs, so I feel connected in this way to all of them, but it was nice to have a very hands-on approach for this one.
OSR: What’s the story behind those James Brown-inspired yowls in the vocal? Were they spontaneous?
Sutton: They sure were! JB is another one I’ve spent hours listening to and trying to absorb his energy; he is my favourite male singer of all time. I love how wild and primal his screams, grunts and other vocal techniques are; it’s a way of singing that has always felt natural to me. I’m rooted in blues, gospel, soul and world music, and I’ve learnt that you have to give yourself into the feeling 100%. So I just let myself go into that space.
OSR: How does ‘Give You Something’ reflect where you are right now in your musical journey?
Sutton: I’d say it is a pretty accurate portrayal of where I’m at musically, spiritually and personally, too. When I perform with my band, I am trying to reach people in a way that is like a communal ritual; it doesn’t have to be religious, but I want everyone to share this energy and be healed by the experience in some way, be it large or small. So I do want to give something for what I do on stage and in the studio. All through the album, there are songs done in different styles, but this song is a pretty close representation of what the live show is like.
OSR: If listeners walk away with just one feeling or message from this song, what do you hope it is?
Sutton: I want to be uplifting, entertaining and nourishing!
Many thanks to Callum Sutton for speaking with us. Find out more about Callum Sutton on his official website, Instagram, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Spotify.
