Sam Fender admits he thought CMAT and Fontaines DC deserved Mercury Prize over him
Following his Mercury Prize win, Sam Fender shared that he thought CMAT and Fontaines DC would have been deserving winners.
In addition to beating competition from CMAT and Fontaines DC, other nominees that Fender saw off included Pulp, Jacob Alon, Pa Salieu, Wolf Alice, and PinkPantheress.
On-stage, Fender, who was flanked by his band, looked visibly shocked to be accepting the prestigious award at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, he emotionally said: “I want to say thank you to all the other nominees tonight, there’s some very good friends among the nominees, CMAT, Fontaines.”
Fender continued, “We are in great company, and I want to say thank you to the person that I never did, to the person that People Watching is about. I want to dedicate it to Annie Orwin.” He then, in a nod to his hometown, shouted at the top of his lungs, “This is the best region in the world.”
During an interview with the BBC following his victory, Fender, who was previously nominated in 2022, expanded on his disbelief, sharing, “We were like, there’s no way that’s happening. Also, as well, there’s two other albums on there, that I think they’re better than People Watching.“
When probed to name the two albums on the shortlist, Fender revealed, “CMAT and Fontaines. Honestly, like as I said before, I thought Seventeen Going Under was a better record, so I was like, ‘Ah, People Watching – we’ll try again next year.'”
“Obviously, CMAT’s record (Euro-Country) is amazing, Fontaines’ Romance is, you know, legendary, so we really didn’t expect that,” he continued.
Elaborating on why he didn’t expect to win, Fender also highlighted the personal nature of his record, stating, “Because the album is such a personal one for us, I was floored, and then I had the Elvis leg for the whole time that I was up there trying to talk. I made a right fool of myself, but never mind.”
To top off the celebratory week, Fender has today released his new single, ‘Talk To You‘, which features Elton John on piano. It is set to appear on the deluxe edition of the Mercury-winning People Watching on December 5th.
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