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ADRIAN THRILLS reviews Sam Fender: People Watching - Geordie Springsteen bares his soul...
and goes global By ADRIAN THRILLS Published: 00:03, 21 February 2025 | Updated: 00:03, 21 February 2025 e-mail View comments SAM FENDER : People Watching (Polydor) Verdict: Soul-baring rock anthems Rating: Sam Fender is the local hero who is going global. Dubbed the Geordie Springsteen when he broke through commercially in 2019, he took inspiration from the grittier realities of life in his native North Shields on his guitar-driven debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, before turning his lyrical gaze inwards on his second release, Seventeen Going Under. With both records topping the UK charts, his heart-on-sleeve approach has paid dividends far beyond the banks of the River Tyne.
He’s shortlisted for two BRIT awards next weekend - to go with the brace he picked up in 2022. He then begins a sold-out European tour in Paris before flying to the States for the Coachella Festival in April. In the UK, he’s already filling huge stadiums.
His third album, People Watching, broadens the palette while maintaining his knack for soul-baring honesty and vivid character sketches. A mix of traditional heartland rock and modern electronics, it was made with Markus Dravs, a British producer who helped to propel Coldplay and Mumford & Sons onto the world’s biggest stages, and Adam Granduciel, an American who specialises in moody, widescreen arrangements. With 30-year-old Fender’s guitar and piano work augmented by Granduciel’s brisk, shimmering synths and the rasping tones of saxophonist Johnny ‘Bluehat’ Davis, the music provides a richly-textured backdrop for his sharp, observational lyrics.
Dubbed the Geordie Springsteen when he broke through commercially in 2019, Sam Fender took inspiration from the grittier realities of life in his native North Shields on his guitar-driven debut album, Hypersonic Missiles. Fender is shortlisted for two BRIT awards next weekend - to go with the brace he picked up in 2022 On blue-collar lament Crumbling Empire, he draws a parallel between industrial decay in the North East and a run-down Detroit neighbourhood he visited on a recent U.S.
tour. He also, sensibly, acknowledges that it’s not the place of pop stars, even those from humble backgrounds, to lecture their fans. ‘I’m not preaching, I’m just talking,’ he sings.
‘I don’t wear the shoes I used to walk in.’ ‘I’ll always end up writing about Newcastle,’ he explains. ‘Even though I’ve moved out, I still spend so much time there seeing my mates.
They’re at the point where they’re starting to play house, with kids and mortgages, getting their own gaffs and getting married. I’ll always be a part of that, because it’s where I’m from. But my life has become very different.
’ Elsewhere, on Chin Up, he contrasts today’s sometimes indulgent wellness culture with the nitty gritty of the friends he sees struggling with unemployment and drugs, while TV Dinner, sung in a falsetto, is a savage take-down of celebrity culture and its impact on young stars like Amy Winehouse. ‘She was just a bairn,’ he reflects. ‘They love her now, but bled her then.
’ There are more intimate moments, too. On jangling guitar ballad Nostalgia’s Lie, he warns against romanticising the past, while 1980s-style rocker Arm’s Length examines both the unwanted scrutiny that comes with success and his own unwillingness to open up emotionally to a romantic partner. The album is bookended by its two most powerful moments.
Opening the record, the title track is a tribute to Fender’s late friend and mentor Annie Orwin, who encouraged his artistic ambitions when she ran a community drama group (‘I’ll hold you in my heart ’til the day I die,’ he sings). And the closing number, Remember My Name, is a torch song in memory of his late grandparents (‘It’s never the same without you’). Two highly personal songs, they strike a universal chord.
People Watching is out today. Sam Fender plays London Stadium on June 6 and St. James’ Park, Newcastle, on June 12, 14 and 15.
This summer also sees him at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, on August 16, the Royal Highland Showgrounds, Edinburgh, on August 22, and Boucher Road Playing Fields, Belfast, on August 28 (Tickets for concerts, theatre, football, family days out). Best of the new releases SABRINA CARPENTER: Short n’ Sweet [Deluxe] (Island) Rating: Expanded with five new tracks ahead of next month’s UK tour and her Hyde Park shows in July, the former Disney starlet’s latest album is the gift that keeps on giving. The former Disney starlet’s latest album is the gift that keeps on giving 15 Minutes is an acerbic comment on fame’s fickle nature, Couldn’t Make It Any Harder a ballad with eyebrow-raising innuendo.
In a move to country music, Bad Reviews is a hoe-down, while 2024’s Please Please Please is reimagined as a bluegrass duet with Dolly Parton. THE STYLISTICS: Falling In Love With My Girl (GMOAT) Rating: Back with their first new album in 17 years, the Philly soul legends are joined by unexpected collaborators. With founder members Airrion Love and Herb Murrell still on board, they are joined by Gene Simmons on Don’t Leave Me Here, and a falsetto-voiced Justin Hawkins, of The Darkness, on the title track.
It’s otherwise business as usual, with dramatic R&B numbers and throwback ballads with strings and electric sitar. Country-soul track Yes, I Will – sung with Shania Twain – is a highlight. IDER: Late To The World (Nettwerk) Rating: Originally a folk act called Lily & Meg, Londoners Lily Somerville and Megan Markwick have developed into a forceful electro-pop act since renaming themselves Ider in 2016.
Londoners Lily Somerville and Megan Markwick have developed into a forceful electro-pop act since renaming themselves Ider in 2016 The duo’s third album sets confessional lyrics to infectious hooks and a mix of synths, indie-rock guitars and live drums. The title track takes a tongue-in-cheek view of expectations placed on young women. You Don’t Know How To Drive is a spicy revenge song.
Impetus is lost on the slower tracks, but this is a gutsy statement of intent. Share or comment on this article: ADRIAN THRILLS reviews Sam Fender: People Watching - Geordie Springsteen bares his soul..
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