SAM FENDER - People Watching

There's a moment when every artist has to come to terms with what they've become. For Sam Fender, "People Watching" is that moment. The shadows of Bruce Springsteen are no longer ghosts to chase or apologize for, but presences to live alongside. And then there's his urge to stand as the voice of the working class, like a Ken Loach armed with a guitar, which at times risks sounding too overloaded, too emotional, almost as if he occasionally felt the need to apologize for no longer walking those roads with the same insistence as before ("Crumbling Empire"). But it's precisely in this context that Fender takes an important step, finding a definitive identity of his own, even when drawing on elements borrowed from others that have by now become inseparable from his style. On top of that, Adam Granduciel of War On Drugs's production pushes his music decisively toward broader, more mature territory.

With "People Watching", Fender proves to be much more than a mere singer-songwriter: he's a composer of real pedigree, capable of building songs that hit straight home, with no mediation. The title track, already released last year, is one of those songs that can't leave you indifferent: powerful and radiant, equally able to fill the walls of a room and the vast space of an arena. And then there's the closer, "Remember My Name", a ballad that digs into the personal, dedicated to his grandparents. Here Fender sets aside all rhetoric to tell, with disarming sincerity, what it really means to go back to your roots. There, in that address quoted without filters ("11 Wark Avenue"), you can feel the weight of sacrifice, the deep sense of home, and, perhaps, even the reason why certain working class hero stories deserve to be sung.

Between the overwhelming brilliance of "People Watching" and the intimacy of the album's epilogue runs a path dotted with tracks that enrich the record with countless shades. There's a beating heart of expansive ballads ("Nostalgia's Lie", "Crumbling Empire") that might have benefited from a change of pace here and there to break up the linear flow, but they still find strength in melodies that weave naturally into the lyrics, letting the music slowly envelop the listener without forcing anything. The piano, which pops up in more than one track, takes center stage in "TV Dinner". Here Fender shifts gears, turning the vocal into a stream of rapid-fire words, almost a stream of consciousness (or, perhaps more precisely, a stream of social grievances, given the lyrical content). The track then suddenly slows down, wrapping itself in cinematic strings and violins that grow increasingly restless, building to a dense and unexpected emotional climax. "Arm's Length" carries a different kind of strength, a solid, down-to-earth track with no stadium anthems or social-rhetoric flourishes: a classic Springsteen-esque rocker with a chorus that gets stuck in your head.

With "Little Bit Closer", the English singer-songwriter once again shows off his skill as a composer, striking a perfect balance between guitar and harmonica that trade places fluidly. "Rein On Me", on the other hand, reveals an unexpected folk side to Fender, with small guitar chords weaving delicately around the main melody.

With his previous albums having shot easily to platinum status, it would be hard to imagine a different fate for "People Watching", which, besides the already-mentioned involvement of Granduciel, also boasts the collaboration of a producer with a dazzling CV like Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Björk, Coldplay). But the real achievement here isn't so much commercial success as the ability to keep the quality level high. It's an album with enough strength to satisfy listeners looking for different things: those who want classic rock that never feels dated, those seeking the energy of the live stage, and those who simply want to hear the voice of a songwriter capable of going beyond the usual tales of troubled relationships, also tackling social and political themes.

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24/02/2025