Nick Cunningham Shares The Top Tracks That Inspired His New Single, ‘With You’

Brisbane-based indie-folk songwriter Nick Cunningham dropped his newest track, With You, last week. Perfectly encapsulating the feeling of a coastal road trip, Cunningham purposely kept the track stripped back, recording it at Studio Byron without a full band. 

In a press release, Cunningham explained how the song really came to be: “I wrote the finger-picked guitar riff to this song in a hotel room in Adelaide the morning after meeting my now partner. We met while we were performing at an event in Adelaide, of all places, and happened to live two suburbs apart in Brisbane. We had this trip away to the coast after a few dates and the lyrics really came from that.”

But as much as this influenced his music, he did still take some inspiration from other artists and songs. So, to celebrate the release of With You, Cunningham is taking The Music through the top tracks that he says inspired the new single.

Slow It Down – Lumineers 

A friend played me this song while driving to the beach one afternoon, and it was almost instantly that I thought, “This is how I want to make my music feel.”

Simple Things – Ziggy Alberts

Since watching Ziggy play on the streets in Byron, I wanted to make a happy song.

Riptide – Vance Joy

I listened to this track a lot while recording this song. We took inspiration from the levels and mix.

The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie – Colter Wall

This was another song I heard and really liked straight away. I saw a live performance of it at a brewery on YouTube and liked this guy’s style.

Just A Boy – Angus And Julia Stone

I heard this song on a surf movie while living in the city for high school. I used to play and write music if I started missing home.

Give Myself To You – The Dreggs

Although it has perhaps a sad meaning, the way this song moves feels like a good time and makes me happy.

Ho Hey – Lumineers

The acoustic tones on this song was something we tried to recreate in the studio.

Move Like You Want – Ben Howard

This was the first song I heard of Ben Howard, and it started a good 3-4 years of being a real hardcore fan.

Nick Cunningham’s new single, ‘With You’, is out now on all streaming platforms.