Sam Fender
By Meg Corsi
Sam Fender is the "Springsteen of the Northeast," yet you've probably never heard of him. The UK's Sam Fender is considered one of the newest stars, yet America has no idea who this icon is. Sam Fender became a sensation in the UK when he released his first album, Hypersonic Missiles, in 2019. While he is a star across the water, he's fairly unknown here in the US. I am here to give you your new favorite UK artist and teach you a thing or two about the legend in the making, Sam Fender.
Born Samuel Thomas Fender on April 25, 1994, in North Shields, England, Sam had a rough childhood. This childhood has inspired many songs of his, such as "Spit of You," my all-time favorite of his, "The Borders" and an entire album, "seventeen going under" about him at 17 years old transitioning to adulthood. Growing up, his parents split up, and he bounced back and forth between houses but usually lived with his mom. He faced bullying and financial problems and lost his best friend to suicide.
At 17, his mother suffered from fibromyalgia and mental health issues, costing her her job. At this point in life, it was just Sam and his mom living together, and now, without his mom's income, they were facing grave financial issues, barely being able to keep afloat. Sam almost turned to dealing drugs as a way to make ends meet. A lot of his friends sold weed and coke.
He saw his friends making good money this way and deeply considered it to help out his mom. Ultimately, he was talked out of it, and they were able to get help from a relative. Seeing his mother in bad shape with her illness and reaching a deep level of depression, knowing there wasn't much he could do, was hard for the 17-year-old changing his outlook on life. Thankfully, through it all, Sam had music with him.
At 8 years old, his dad gave Sam his first guitar. His dad was a musician and, according to Sam, a good one too. His older brother was also into music, and he often played the drums while Sam's dad blasted Amy Winehouse and other icons of his generation, spurring a love from a young age. By his mid-teens, he was in a band with some schoolmates, just messing around making music for fun, but Sam knew this was something more. At 18 years old, he was discovered while playing in a pub near his house, and the rest is history. Now that we know some backstory, if you're not already totally into this dude, let's fast forward to the present and talk about his music.
His debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, came out September 13h, 2019, and hit the charts at number one on the UK Albums Chart. A striking, forceful first album, it tackled themes of loss, love, politics, and everything in between, setting the stage for what Sam was all about. The title track, Hypersonic Missiles, is a powerful, high-energy song about the world ending in nuclear war. However, the song isn't just about war; it also touches on themes of government corruption, misinformation, and powerlessness among ordinary people.
Despite its heavy subject matter, the track is upbeat and anthemic, contrasting the dark lyrics with energetic instrumentation. This song set the tone for the album and his career. It's powerful and honest, and it's an all-around good tune.
The rest of the album explores themes of political unrest, social issues, mental health, and personal struggles. The third track, "White Privilege," critiques societal inequalities and personal guilt within a world of injustices and political issues. My favorite couple lines of this song are, "Nobody talks to each other for fear of different opinions, They call the bigots dumb for buying into fear from the paper, smug liberal arrogance, working class don't fuck with it, its all just ammunition for the right-wing press" The song is dark, brooding, and moody. It's stripped-down compared to the rest of the album. Fender's delivery is raw and urgent, adding to the song's intensity. While some fans and critics praised "White Privilege" for its self-awareness, others noted that it leaves questions open rather than offering clear answers—something Fender himself admitted was intentional.
And finally, my favorite Sam Fender song, The Borders. The Borders is a hauntingly beautiful song about Sam and his toxic childhood best friend. It touches on themes of identity, class struggle, and growing up in a small town. In the track, Fender reflects on his personal experiences of feeling trapped and the challenges of escaping a cycle of limited opportunities in his working-class hometown. This song fully displays Sam's storytelling abilities as he paints a vivid display of emotion. This is the kind of song you put on, close your eyes, and fall into the lyrics and rhythm. The song starts with a contradicting, upbeat intro combined with deep-cutting lyrics that go into issues like drugs, abuse, and abandonment while keeping the theme of friends and family central. He portrays his past ambiguously but gives enough details to give a decent idea of the events described. Lyrics like "Eight years old with a replica gun, pushing in my skull saying you're gonna kill me if I tell, never did and I never will, that house was living hell" and "No wonder you can't stand me I can't stand me too" showcase his storytelling and trauma. Fender blends Springsteen-esque storytelling with indie rock anthems, creating a deeply emotional and socially aware album that resonates with fans.
His next album, Seventeen Going Under, has themes of Growing Up & Adolescence, reflecting on Fender's own experiences growing up in the North of England. The title track, "Seventeen Going Under," specifically deals with the struggles of youth, capturing the turbulence of adolescence and the emotional scars that come with it. There is a recurring focus on mental health, including themes of anxiety, depression, and self-doubt. Fender explores his own battles with these issues, making it a very raw and vulnerable album. Family dynamics are explored deeply with the song "Spit of You."
Some other themes of the album include mental health and masculinity, with the song "Dead Boys" being one of the most powerful tracks, addressing male suicide and mental health struggles. Inspired by personal experiences, it tackles the stigma surrounding men's emotional vulnerability. The song "You're Not the Only One" explores themes of self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and navigating young adulthood.
There's a sense of looking back at the past, reflecting on family struggles, and understanding them with the clarity of adulthood. Fender frequently addresses the hardships of growing up in a working-class environment. The song "Aye" touches on socio-economic issues, the divide between classes, and the challenges that come with them. The album often looks back at the past with a sense of both nostalgia and regret.
It reflects on the things lost with time, both in terms of personal experiences and societal changes. While the album dives deep into darker emotional territory, it also carries messages of resilience, finding strength in difficult situations, and navigating the challenges of life.
The most recent album, People Watching, came out in February of this year. The album has a lighter tone in terms of rhythm and instrumentation compared to its predecessors, but it keeps the lyrics deep like the others. It goes into various themes of self-reflection and identity, including a deep dive into his own identity, struggles with self-worth, and understanding his place in the world. Fender touches on the impact of mental health issues and how they affect personal relationships and one's perspective on life. The title track, "People Watching," explores the way people often mask their true feelings while navigating personal challenges. The album also explores the need for human connection, yet the feeling of isolation that can often accompany it. Fender reflects on observing others and the complexities of interactions, sometimes feeling distant or disconnected from the world around him. There's a focus on societal observations and critiques, particularly about the pressures of modern life. Fender examines how people navigate their daily lives, from personal struggles to the broader societal issues that affect them.
Some other singles and EPs with deep lyrics and meaning are Poundshop Kardashians, a song on the more punk side of his music, commenting on American celebrity culture and the political climate in America in 2018. With lyrics like 'Beautiful people devoid of emotion, sterilized, pedicured, pedigrees and mankind, thick as fuck and soulless" and "There's an orange faced baby at the wheel of the ship doing donuts in the carpark, we watch as it all falls apart, we idolize idiots." the single greasy spoon is a song about being a woman in today's society and follows a woman who most likely was raped as she gets catcalled and abused by the men around him. While rape is never explicitly implied, the song came out during the me too movement and hints at sexual assault.
Sam Fender creates songs that tell important stories and talk about things that need to be discussed more often in today's society. In a climate of shallow and meaningless popular music, Sam's upcoming popularity in the UK is refreshing and new, and hopefully, when America gets word of him, his music will impact many people here as well.
