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Sam Fender: People Watching review – a lonely yet brilliant document of fame
The North Shields singer-songwriter wrestles with how far life has propelled him away from his roots on his musically adventurous third album
Over two albums, Sam Fender has cast an increasingly astute eye over the working-class struggles of his native North Shields while wrangling with his own parallel narrative. The lead-single title track is a natural continuation from the widescreen Springsteen-isms of Seventeen…, on an adventurous record that takes in rootsy fingerpicking ( Wild Long Lie) and a subversively breezy duet with singer Brooke Bentham ( Arm’s Length). Lyrically, however, the sad yearning of the opener signposts the turmoil to come, whether it’s new parents back home who “can’t heat the place for fucking love nor money” ( Chin Up) or industry vultures “fetishis[ing] struggling” on the vitriolic, pitch-black highlight TV Dinner.
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