People Watching – Sam Fender

8.5/10

As a British child of the 2000’s who listens to guitar music, the music of the nineties has always been there. I listen to it frequently, but when I do I don’t really hear much that describes ‘Cool Britannia.’ You can’t tell me that Bitter Sweet Symphony or A Design for Life were written to evoke a prideful feeling about the UK. Of course, it wasn’t just The Verve and The Manic Street Preachers who contributed to the era. Oasis, Blur, Suede and perhaps most overtly, Pulp all commented on the state of the UK at the time. Nowhere in the lyrics to any of these band’s songs does anyone sound particularly happy, unless under the influence of alcohol. Maybe this music was described as being part of the ‘Cool Britannia’ idea because it was all so brilliant and all so overtly British. Most strikingly, when I listen to these songs I’m struck by the feeling that the country messers Ashcroft and Cocker etc. are describing is not too different to the country I live in today.

Enter Sam Fender. A modern Geordie, working class, hero. Plainly telling it how it is, backed by the power and saxophone of Bruce Springsteen. Fender is unique in modern British alternative music because of how British he actually sounds both in pronunciation and content. His contemporaries in commercially successful British indie are much less similar to him than the aforementioned group of bands that formed the Britpop movement. The 1975’s Matty Healy is definitely the voice of a generation, but his commentary is more universal, focusing on the internet and societal regression and collapse. Love It If We Made It for example, isn’t at all about Britain; instead focusing on America and Climate Change. Fender’s previous album’s titular track Seventeen Going Under is unmistakably about Britain however. Name checking the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), describing the beaches on the North Sea and using Geordie slang.

Seventeen Going Under is so good because it so carefully and bitingly tells us how Fender felt as he lived in his world. As he saw the decay around him and the strife of his family and friends. Musically, the song does so well in making itself a universal experience, one that thousands of adoring fans can sing back at the stage. The infinitely yell-able chorus and millennial (Gen Z?!?) whoop that moved Fender to tears during his triumphant Glastonbury performance in 2023.

People Watching is the lead single and title track of Fender’s upcoming third Studio Album. On the surface it follows the same formula as Seventeen with its rolling rhythm section and saxophone. However, I think this new effort is actually quite a bit darker than his previous work. Seventeen is written from the perspective of a young Sam (obviously) but People Watching is stark in its modernity. This is Sam describing his world, today. The second verse is devastating in its depiction of his experience at the care home, but the song’s best line comes in the bridge:

I feel for this crippled island, and the turmoil of the times

Fender is now thirty years old; a long time has passed since the events of Seventeen Going Under. Things were supposed to have gotten better; clearly, they haven’t. The world continues to evolve, yet the struggles seem to persist, as if time has merely added layers of complexity rather than resolving issues. Unfortunately, I concur with Fender, and therefore People Watching, whilst being dark, also feels comforting because I know I’m not the only one feeling this way and seeing the things I’m seeing. There is a blend of melancholy and communal solace, themes present throughout Fender’s discography.

I love people watching, and I love People Watching. Sam Fender is at the top of his game, and the influence of The War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel is an excellent and intriguing addition. I feel the emotion in this song deeply. Fender has that rare songwriting gift of being able to capture lightning in a bottle every once in a while. I think he’s done it again here.

People Watching is out now. The album of the same name releases on 21st February 2025 on Polydor Records.