Sam Fender has shared a preview of his upcoming new single ‘People Watching’ – you can listen to it below.
The North Shields singer-songwriter revealed that his third studio album was finished and “mastered” last month, after posting snippets of unheard material online. He then released a live version of ‘People Watching’ – a track he’d debuted at an intimate gig this summer.
Fender has since announced a UK and Ireland tour for next month and a run of headline shows across Europe in March.
Now, the musician has shared a portion of the studio version of ‘People Watching’ along with some behind-the-scenes footage from the recording studio.
The clip shows The War On Drugs‘ Adam Granduciel working on Fender’s next LP. The ‘Seventeen Going Under’ artist first hinted that he had been collaborating with Granduciel in March, sharing footage of them together, alongside producers, engineers and other musicians.
Captioning his new preview of ‘People Watching’, Fender wrote: “We spent this spring in LA with legend Adam Granduciel @thewarondrugs piecing together the new record.
“Some of the songs had been rattling round in my head for a while so there was material I’d written in Newcastle and London already. Figuring out where the hell to go after 17 took some working out but I got there in the end.”
Fender also shared some lyrics from a verse of ‘People Watching’. They read: “I people watch on the way back home/ Envious of the glimmer of hope/ Gives me a break from feeling alone/ Gives me a moment out of the ego.
“I used to feel so invincible/ I used to feel there was a world worth dreaming of/ Back of the gasworks screaming the song/ Just the beauty of youth would quell my aching heart.” Tune in above.
A countdown clock on Fender’s official website currently suggests that something is coming next Wednesday (November 13).
As well as premiering ‘People Watching’ live in Plymouth in August, Fender aired another new song titled ‘Nostalgia’s Lie’ at the small show. He played both tracks again when he headlined Boardmasters 2024 the following week.
Fender has since welcomed singer Brooke Bentham into his band, revealing that “her voice is all over the next album”. He added: “It’s been an absolute pleasure singing with her again and I can’t wait for you to hear what we’ve made.”
Earlier this year, he gave an update on his forthcoming third full-length record. “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’,” Fender explained.
“For the second one [‘Seventeen Going Under’], we rushed to get that out and the third one we started rushing and I thought, ‘No, we have got to take the time’.”
Last summer saw Fender announce special Newcastle editions of his next album by displaying QR codes across the city ahead of his massive homecoming dates at St James’ Park stadium.
Speaking to NME in 2022, Fender described his new music as “very pretty” with a strong “singer-songwriter” vibe.
“If I try and force myself to write stadium songs, we could end up fucking it I think,” he admitted at the time. “Instead, I want to write about the stories that I have and the place that I’m mentally at in my life at this point. And I’ve had a lot to write about.”
Fender’s upcoming new album will serve as the follow-up to NME‘s album of the year 2021, ‘Seventeen Going Under’ – which reached Number One in the UK, and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The LP was also named Best Album In The World at the NME Awards 2022.
This year has seen Fender share the song ‘Iris’, taken from the Jackdaw soundtrack, and his Noah Kahan collaboration ‘Homesick’.
His forthcoming UK and Ireland tour includes two nights at The O2 in London. £1 from every ticket sold for these dates will be donated to the Music Venue Trust in support of grassroots venues. Find any remaining tickets here.
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