Sam Fender launches a new chapter with "People Watching", his third studio album and an 11-track collection based around stories of people, relationships, memory, loss and life in his hometown. Clocking in at 48 minutes and 32 seconds, the album is more outward-looking, bringing together different characters and experiences into a deeply personal body of work.
Produced by Sam Fender, Dean Thompson, Joe Atkinson, Markus Dravs and Adam Granduciel, "People Watching" straddles the line between personal storytelling and songs about love, avoidance, memories, family and grief. It's based on the idea of watching the people around him and turning those experiences into songs.
The title track carries a particularly emotional weight. "People Watching" was written about someone who died last November that Fender called a surrogate mother. He sat by her as her life slipped away, and the song captures the thoughts and feelings of those visits. Her influence is also directly linked to Fender's career, as she encouraged his confidence to perform onstage.
"Arm's Length" explores avoidance and flightiness, reveling in the simplicity of a pop song. The song was up for exclusion from the album but was saved after Brooke Bentham encouraged Fender to keep the song. The record ends with "Remember My Name," a love song dedicated to Fender's late grandparents. Written as a tribute to their family bond, the song is told from the perspective of his grandfather caring for his grandmother as she experienced dementia, and it provides an especially intimate moment to close out the album.
The album's collection of stories is fleshed out with additional tracks like "Nostalgia's Lie," "Chin Up," "Wild Long Lie," "Crumbling Empire," "Little Bit Closer," "Rein Me In," "TV Dinner," and "Something Heavy." "People Watching" is about a collection of different lives, memories, and emotions. The result is a record informed by observation and personal experience. Fender turns the people and places around him into an 11-song portrait of connection, remembrance, and everyday life.
Post a Comment