Sam Fender announces new album ‘People Watching’
After his massive album Seventeen Going Under, Sam Fender has announced his return to the world with news of his upcoming release, People Watching.
The album was recorded in London in 2023, and Fender and bandmates Dean Thompson and Joe Atkinson shared production duties. It also features the talents of Adam Granduciel of indie band The War on Drugs, whom Fender has respected over the years.
In a press statement, Fender’s latest release is a spiritual successor to the “coming of age” stories featured in Seventeen Going Under, promising “colourful stories and observations of everyday characters living their everyday, but often extraordinary, lives.”
News of the War on Drugs guitarist came when Fender posted various pictures of them working in the studio on social media, with Granduciel seen playing keyboards alongside Fender’s band members.
Along with the new record, Fender is set to kick off a tour of the UK and Ireland starting in December before moving onto an extended European tour until July 2025. The sold-out dates from the first leg run from December 2nd in Dublin to December 20th in Newcastle.
Fender is also promising to raise money for charity during his upcoming tour. For every ticket which is sold during the length of the tour, £1 is going to be donated to the Music Venue Trust, which seeks to support and improve grassroots music venues throughout the UK.
Fender is far from the only one looking to bring support to grassroots venues. Alongside the charity fund during his tour, Coldplay had pledged to donate 10 per cent of their proceeds from one leg of their Music of the Spheres tour.
Up until the announcement, Fender had been teasing a new album in the works, including various posts on social media discussing the album being in the mastering stages and how it would feature contributions from Brooke Bentham. Fender also expressed his gratitude for spending more time on his latest album, saying that he was rushed into putting Seventeen Going Under out only two years after the release of his debut, Hypersonic Missiles, in 2019.
When discussing the recording process, Fender said that he needed to get every song to a point where he was personally satisfied with them, saying, “We have been recording and recording and making loads of stuff but it got to the point where I thought, ‘We don’t need to get this out yet. We need to get it right.'”
People Watching is set for release on February 21st, 2025.
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