People Watching’ is undeniable. A song with heart, soul, and a euphoria of feeling penned by a British musician whose observations on life as he experiences them have already taken him to headlining Summer festivals (Reading & Leeds, Boardmasters), selling out stadiums, and becoming a bonafide household name. With the instant sell-out of his UK arena tour next month (140,000+ tickets), Sam Fender takes another mighty leap forward into whatever comes next.

If Sam Fender’s debut album, 2019’s Hypersonic Missiles, introduced a smart, street-wise British songwriter with a penchant for euphoric, hard-hitting guitar anthems, it was 2021’s peerless Seventeen Going Under that sent the Newcastle artist stratospheric. An acute observer, Fender turns the mirror not only on the streets he grew up walking, but on himself too. The record is a tough-talking but also tender account of Fender’s childhood, finding his feet in the North of England amongst all the complexities and anxieties that weighed so heavily on his shoulders. It’s also a coming of age story, marrying relatable family themes and broken friendships with devastatingly colossal choruses.