Sam Fender

On Hypersonic Missiles, Fender drew inspiration from the lives around him in North Shields: people trying to scrape through the week and make it to Saturday, the souls lost to unemployment and suicide. Then for Seventeen Going Under, he turned that gaze inwards, the camera focusing in on his own coming of age story in a Springsteenian sweep of drama. On People Watching, however, the perspectives shift, often within songs themselves. Those closest to Fender are here - his friends, loved ones and family - but there’s also his own experiences and battles, internal and external, and much wider questions and reflections. Fender cherry-picked eleven songs that provide a rich picture of exactly where and who he is at this moment in time: the people and events that have shaped him, the word around him and the loves, passions and beliefs that drive him. Sonically, the heart-lifting vistas which connected to so many across Fender’s first two albums are still here, but the songs on People Watching are given a little more space to breathe this time around, and there’s a whole new palette of sounds and textures helping Fender paint his pictures. Thanks in no small part to the role of The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel as co-producer. On People Watching Fender has pulled together a collection of songs that not only look back into his own recent, and not so recent past, but also dig into the very roots of who he is. “It’s just a collection of songs about the human experience.”