Make some room on the dance floor, Merv Pinny is back with Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me, a tightly produced, feel-good track built on Pinny’s soulful vocal delivery. With a message of love, connection and belonging, it’s the second single ahead of the release his late 2025-scheduled new album, ‘Hard Road’. While pulling back on the brassy, rock’n’roll confidence of Shake for Me, the album’s first single, Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me carries a similarly infectious energy, showcasing Pinny’s signature blend of catchy guitar riffs and heartfelt songwriting. The Kerikeri-based artist/producer tells us a bit more about the origins of the catchy new track in this NZM My Song feature.

We all like to be loved and we all like to hear those words from that special someone. I think love rules the world, not war and conflict. With all that is going in the world I want to take the listener away from all that, for just a moment, and maybe there is a message within the lyrics just for them. 

Like most of the songs on my new album which is coming out in December this year, this came from a period starting in 2023 that I found to be a real creative time for songwriting. I really wanted Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me to be fun, and I think we captured that well.

I especially love the way the song starts – the band just joins in, it almost feels like a live build up. I remember going to see Chris Stapleton play at Spark Arena earlier this year and they started one of their songs this way. 

When I’m writing I am often recording at the same time, and I might end up with five different takes in five different keys for the same song! Working on a track I try not to listen to any other music, but this song was different. It all came together so fast and I already knew what I wanted to say, just me and the acoustic guitar in a late night session. 

I find it really hard to pick which of the tracks I’ve written for an album should be chosen a single, obviously I like them all for different reasons. I picked Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me as the new album’s second single because it’s about love ruling the world, in a time where thing have gone a little crazy.

The first single we chose for ‘Hard Road’ was Shake For Me, which came out in September this year, and has had fantastic streaming numbers. That’s much more of a funky rock out number, and I wanted to follow it with the theme of romance and unforgettable love, I think it makes a great fit. 

Actually, we did originally have another song picked, which is my favourite off the new album, and I can’t wait for people to hear it. That might become another single after Hold Me, Love Me, Tell Me. 

I have some awesome musicians playing on this track – Matt Watson on keys and brass and Paul Lafotanoa on drums – both of them are in my band. One thing that stood out while recording this song, was how much other great musicians and producers can bring to a recording. The band brought so much to this one, it was simple but effective. 

I record all my tracks at my studio in Kerikeri, and send them to Lee Buddle in Perth for mixing. Lee is a long-time friend and I value his input as we’ve worked on so many tracks together. He’s worked with some big names like Kelly Clarkson and Justin Bieber. I remember when I was in Lee’s studio the day after Justin Bieber had been recording, and he had forgotten his sunglasses so I was wearing them all day. Still couldn’t write a pop song though… 

I’ve been working on other musicians’ albums this year, and with some of the artist development programmes that I’ve been involved with since Covid have found an exciting new group of local talent here in the Far North to draw on for future projects.