A man in a suit, an old semi-acoustic guitar and a voice like sandpaper dipped in honey. Michael P Cullen tells stories of longing and regrets in a unique and textured baritone with echoes of American mid-century pulp writers, 60s Vegas cabaret, and Southern Gothic Americana. He has often been compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave but his unique blend of Noir, New Wave, Stax and Northern Soul ultimately defies comparison.
The Sydney-based lounge lizard artfully marries Southern Gothic dustiness to black-sequined seediness in a way that actually reveals a true sense of class.
Monster Magnet Records (Los Angeles)True Believer is a hedonistic, lush, red velvet-curtained fragile and beautiful album. Imbued with the sexual frustration and louche ambivalence of Robert Forster from The Go-Betweens and underpinned by a Nick Cave-like gothic baritone darkness, each listen reveals more complex layers, greater humor and a melodic strength. Every song is great – flashes of Tindersticks and Leonard Cohen weaving in and out of this lounge-room lothario performing in a haze of smoke and whiskey.
Back Seat Mafia (London)Songs about regret, bitterness and a love gone sour. The vocals are a rich baritone cocktail of spoken word, singing and crooning while [Tim]Powles provides seamless, charming accompaniment on the keys and drums. It’s intoxicating. It has to be experienced.
Rip it Up Magazine (Brisbane)Inspired by the likes of Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits, you nevertheless get a very Michael Cullen experience. He is strong and has a distinctive baritone vocal that weaves through the music, making this album unique, and uniquely valuable. 4.5 Stars
Sydney Morning HeraldMix a stiff drink or three, crack open a pack of cheap cigarettes (I don’t care if you smoke… you want to experience this correctly or not?), and sink in your own glorious malaise, pondering where you could have done better for yourself. Michael P Cullen & The Soul Searchers understand.
Modern Fix (Wisconsin)
Musicians/Instruments:
Michael P Cullen – vocals. Guitar. bass
Tim Powles – drums, percussion, vocals (Tim is a long time member of legendary Australian band The Church)
Produced by Michael P Cullen & Tim Powles
Engineered by Tim Powles and Ted Howard
Mixed by Danton Supple (Coldplay, Morrissey many others)
LINKS:
http://michaelpcullen.com
https://soundcloud.com/michael-p-cullen
https://bit.ly/MichaelPCullenYouTube
https://bit.ly/michaelpcullenfacebook
https://twitter.com/m1chaelcullen
