Sammy Copley - 'Growing Pains' review : A love letter to the beauty and the pain of growing up

Sammy Copley - ‘Growing Pains’ review : A love letter to the beauty and the pain of growing up

Gene Morrissey

Sammy Copely, Growing Pains, album cover

Sammy Copley first posted a YouTube video on 5th October 2015, aged 14. The video was a cover of the song Down by Dodie. Nearly five years later, on the 29th January 2021, aged 19, Sammy released his debut album of original songs, ‘Growing Pains.’ A love letter to the beauty and the pain of growing up, Sammy Copley's debut album captures the bittersweet passing of time as one makes the transition from innocent child, through teenage angst, and into the unpredictable world of adulthood. The title track, and the first proper song on the album, perfectly outlines the albums' themes. With lyrics that recall the near universal moments of growing up, learning to ride a bike, falling in love for the first time and the first taste of heartbreak, all over a beautiful melody. The song invites you in for the wonderful journey the album has to take you on. 

Growing up as a trans man certainly comes with its unique growing pains, and many of the people who will listen to this album will have experienced growing up in a very different way to Sammy as a result, including me. But this albums core strength comes from the warmth of tenderness that radiates from the music. Sammy’s personality shines at the forefront of the record, but no moment feels too specific to the artist, or too sad in an uncomfortable way. It's a true achievement that at such a young age, Sammy is able to produce an album that achieves such wide-reaching relatability, with such irresistible warmth. 

One of the many reasons I was initially drawn to Sammy’s YouTube channel, was the wide range of styles he would choose to cover. From Billie Eilish and Rex Orange County to Edith Piaf and Leonard Cohan, he showed off a wide variety of musical styles and put his unique spin on all of them over the years. On Growing Pains, he is able to incorporate all those styles into his own original songs. Tracks like Elizabeth show a true appreciation for folk music traditions, while Turtles All The Way Down draws inspiration from a rich history of pop piano ballads, to create a feeling of familiarity within the breath-taking new talent. Immense musical talent is displayed on this album, with intricate finger picking patterns played smooth and effortlessly, in wonderful sounding open tunings. The most important musical aspect is of course Sammy’s voice, which never fails to enchant in every song. Every word is embedded with pure emotion, and the frequent use of rich layers of vocal harmonies results in a transcendent soundscape. 

The songs on the album are broken up by short spoken word interludes. We hear from a few of Sammy’s friends as they give advice to their younger selves. In these interludes they reflect on their own unique growing pains, that can seem arbitrary when looked back on from a more adult perspective, but at the same time have and will forever shape our adult selves. These moments on the album also remind us that as we grow older, the world becomes clearer, and we can become happier, if we can make that choice. 

These interludes strengthened the songs around them, and reinforce the key themes of the record, but are not needed to feel the full journey that the songs themselves take you on. The songs are placed in order with a sense of care as we journey from the light innocence of Growing Pains and Elizabeth, into a darker and mellower tone with Ozymandias and Murder Song. Turtles All The Way Down and Moon Song are two of the saddest moments of heartbreak on the record, but we are ultimately uplifted by the end with The Garden and Trains.

I discovered Sammy’s YouTube channel in the summer of 2019, soon after a breakup, and at a poignant moment filled with my own growing pains. Sammy’s covers, as well as his original music became a very huge part of my life over that summer, and have remained so ever since. Discovering Sammy right at the beginning of his career, and being able to watch him grow and mature as a songwriter has been an honour, and an inspiring experience. When towards the end of 2020 he announced a full album of original songs would be being released my excitement was huge, and the album didn’t disappoint. 

Sammy is still incredibly young. That youth can be heard on the album, for better or for worse. The production is very DIY, there are certain mixing and editing errors that would never be heard on a more commercial release. The rough around the edges sound may be a turn off for some people, and understandably so. But for some, including me, the sound of this record brings an added layer of authenticity and warmth. Perfectly imperfect. 

I was blown away by the album upon its release, and have continued to return to it throughout the year. As my own growing pains have continued, my relationship with the album has grown as well, and I’m sure it will continue to for a long time.