Some of my favourite songs are the ones I write the lyrics for first, but theres something that comes out of you when you write a melody its like your soul talking, youre finding it through pure feeling.. It's a banger that cuts right to the struggle of feeling helpless as a teenagerbeing old enough to know what's going on but being too young to fix anything. Seventeen Going Under is released on 8 October. Sam has alluded in previous interviews to a health condition that hes not yet ready to fully disclose, and tells NME that he spent three months shielding at the Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, 'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal. After recovering from the vocal cord illness, he only played a The Leveller Thankfully, the health condition Sam Fender is better now and his illness is improving, says Radio X. As a kid, he was obsessed with Slash, Page, and Hendrix. HisBest Rock/Alternative Act win comes three years after he was honoured with the Critics' Choice Award. They frequently drip with Springsteen-isms, and not just in the occasional parping saxophone. A lot of my lyrics used to come from pub craic. I got the record deal and got a bit of money, he says, so I was like, Right, Im gonna get myself a really nice guitar. I love Les Pauls, Strats and other Fenders, but this has got that brightness that Ive always wanted that heartland rock, Tom Petty twang. 2023 BBC. Thematically, Fender, who is 27, gazed outward on Hypersonic Missiles, but he goes deeply inward on Seventeen Going Under. She suffered from fibromyalgia, which affected her mental health and her ability to work. ', Incredible:It was a big night for Sam, who won the Rock/Alternative act award. The performances are now available to watch on demand. Prince Andrew has 'offered to manage prestigious Royal estates including Balmoral but King Charles has told PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Yes, Madonna toyboys are fun but not if you value your dignity. People are proud of me, so thats nice. Theres plenty of loudmouthed Geordie drug dealers, the most unsubtle drug dealers on the planet, and Id get plenty of bits from that. Ive bought my first ever daft guitar, he says with a cheeky grin. In 2018, he was included to the BBCs Sound of 2018 list. By Naman Ramachandran. Im going through a phase of abstinence right now, he confides. You start to understand yourself, and that can lead you to disliking yourself even more. The rest of 2022 he'll be headlining arena tours, as well as supporting the Killers on four dates in London and Dublin. It's a 1959," he continues. That's when I started singing properly, is after hearing Jeff Buckley. Im an ear player and cant read music at all. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? At the beginning, Im talking to the Virgin Mary, a Mary pendant. But the leveler is the lockdown itself. It was written around the time when all the Trump supporters were storming the capital building. TIDBIT: Seventeen Going Under was recorded at Wor House (Sam Fender's studio) in North Shields, England, and Grouse Lodge in Ireland. Witch, Harridan, Harpy, and new insults like Karen and Terf. Not all the songs chew over familial dynamics. A music journalist for over 20 years, Grant writes regularly for titles including Classic Rock and Total Guitar, and his CV also includes stints as a radio producer/presenter and podcast host. There are no hints about his love relationship on his IG account. It was his father, a guitar player himself , who bought Sam his very first guitar, back when he was eight. Musically, this insistent tune rides on Fenders trademark three-part indie-rock guitar arpeggios (played on the record by him and his co-guitarists, Dean Thompson and Joe Atkinson), which give movement to the main E/F#m/D/C#m/F#m/D progression. I had moments where I was so low that I thought about it. I'm like, "ooh, that's a lot of money." September 14, 2022. But Ive got fantastic people around me who really care and who pulled me out of my pit. He had the looks, and the Top Man pout proved malleable. The closing song, The Dying Light, is sad. As things have progressed with my career, we started hanging out a lot more. Read about our approach to external linking. I was always quite frugal. He soaked up chords, blues scales, major scales, arpeggios which all seemed pretty unglamorous and tedious to him as a kid, until he woke up one day and, as if overnight, he had become a pretty good guitarist. And the fact that I never fought back against these kids that used to push us around, or constantly berate us for years on end, it wears you down. The hit-maker - Fortunately, the moment changes him back to his past life, way to music. I was dealing with abandonment issues. Aye It was a divorce Christmas present, Fender says now. [Later] I overcompensated by lifting weights and going to the boxing gym and all these things to try and become something closer to the resemblance of my father. Lets explore his health condition before or after the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic also exposed the struggles and poverty faced in towns such as North Shields, and his ire at the governments handling of COVID and Brexitas well as his dismay at an opposition party that seemed to have abandoned working-class communitiesburns through Aye and Long Way Off. Forthright in message and poetic in delivery, his words are set to a sound that continues to explore Americana and indie rock, funneling everything through big-hearted choruses. Id find myself ripping cupboard doors off the wall because of things that had happened five years before. And I got all of my friends from home, some of them who knew him as well, to sing that last line, No one should feel like this. Its a choir of people from Shields. I didnt look after myself; I wasnt one of these people starting up a fitness regime on TikTok. ", I felt like it could be powerful and delicate and all the things in between. ", About a mile from that stoop is the Low Lights Tavern, where Fender tended bar after high school, and it's also where he played his music in the early days. Its not as if Im an expert, hes quick to point out. I loved Oasis and all the British stuff as well. He remains silent when it comes to sharing his personal life. I saw him as me, as a son, and saw his loss. You might be wondering to know what happened to him. The song was released as a digital download on 2 July 2019 by Polydor Records as the second single from his debut studio album Hypersonic Missiles. He noodles on his Jazzmaster, does some fingerpicking, or switches to another instrument. But its also about how much I love him, how I saw him as a son. Small Clone just sounds like a chorus. It's idiot proof and I'm an idiot [laughing]. Get You Down came as a chord progression. Im finally at a place where I can understand it, and the things that I hated about myself are what I should be celebrating the fact that Im an empathetic little softie is probably the best thing about me. Im just trying to take it all in. Throughout the course of 2013 Fender played a series of gigs across the country supporting a number of artists including Ben Howard and Willy Mason, until The singer even picked up his second and this striking dress is covered in them. He was spotted by his manager when he was 18. Thats why I started doing therapy. Or why not treat yourself? My dad taught me that trick.. You cant do that. Theyd seen their mothers pass away in the arms of people who worked for the NHS. Its a roundup of all of the things that Ive thought about in the album. We laugh about it now; things have really turned a corner. It's about a father and son's relationship and the inability to talk about anything other than DIY, music, or alcohol. Both his albums, 2019's Hypersonic Missiles and 2021's Seventeen Going Under topped the UK charts, with the latter shortlisted for the Mercury music prize. Blyth Valley [a constituency a few miles from North Shields] went Tory [in the 2019 general election]; its been a Labour seat since its inception. "Me and my dad had a five-year period where we didn't get on very well," Fender shares. I feel like Ive started to close the chapter on that part of my life. Some kid, 17, probably going through a boatload of similar shit that you experienced, will be front and centre, screaming these stories as if it's their last night on Earth.". You get that sort of 'Champagne Supernova' endin'," Fender says. He spent years on the pub circuit before landing a deal, and when that deal did come, he refused to collaborate with co-writers as is the norm for many of todays singers and wrote his own songs by himself. This fabulous frock hails from Versace's Spring-Summer 2022 collection and was styled on the runway with studded orange heels, orange tinted aviators and an oh so chic mini bag. Indeed, Fender's lyrics stop you in your tracks. One artists inspiration rings particularly clear through Fenders sensitive, small-town stories. On the release of such a personal collection of music, Fender recently penned a letter to his 17-year-old self. More info Sam Fender has opened up on his mental health struggles after admitting the Covid-19 pandemic left him "pretty miserable". The chart-topper has been busy of late filming in both Druridge Bay and North Shields for his recent single Seventeen Going Under. These stories, theyre mine, but that frustration with the DWPhow youre trapped as a person whos fallen on a hard time by your governmentis a unanimous story for so many millions of people in this country. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. People shouldnt live miserably, they shouldnt have to. Details To Know, Dominique Samuels Wikipedia: Everything To Know About Journalist, WOMAN REVEALS THE SIMPLE AIRPORT MISTAKE THAT COULD DELAY YOU AT SECURITY AND RISKS YOU MISSING YOUR FLIGHT, FOUR AIRPLANE TRAVEL TIPS TO ENSURE YOU HAVE THE BEST TRIP POSSIBLE, HORRIFIC CCTV FOOTAGE CAPTURES DOG WALKER MISSING, Planning a road trip in the UK? "It's a strange move, but once you start getting the muscle strength, it's a constant thing and it's quite hypnotic," he says. On the first album, I talked about politics as if I knew what I was talking about, but I realized I dont. WebHealth. On Mary, Fender sings: You were online and the sociopathic part of me hit the Like/In the hopes Id coax you out of my derelict fantasy.. Sam Fender is a happy man. Fender often uses a guitar tuned to C# standard (C#/F#/B/E/G#/C#), something he says happened by accident. However, the singer-songwriter said that he is super Its an E minor shape with open strings [E-x/A-7/D-5/G-0/B-8/E-0], followed by a tasty Dadd9/11 [E-x/A-5/ D-7/G-0/B-7/E-0]. Someone at the end of the bar, complaining about their other half I would finish the story. Music is the passion and pain killer of his all sorrows and frustrations. No, there are no records mentioning Sam Fender has an illness called cancer. I felt like it could be powerful and delicate and all the things in between. Its powerful, poetic, personal stuff traditional songwriting with a modern edge. Theres a very moving lyric about him kissing his mothers forehead when she died, and you imagining doing the same to him one day. Organisers divided opinion and some were left outraged by the decision to switch to gender-neutral gongs for the first time in its history, in calls led by non-binary singer Sam Smith. Sam Fender has made serious waves in the music industry since his debut single 'Play God' in back 2017 - and now, his second album is taking the world by storm, with huge tracks such as 'Seventeen Going Under' and 'Spit of You'. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. From its yearning title track, to urgent cry from the heart Aye, to dark, seventh-chord heavy The Leveller, Seventeen Going Under is a remarkable record, delivered with Fenders earnest, keening vocal not unlike that of The Killers Brandon Flowers and packed with melodies, ear-catching guitar riffs, and the kind of sensitive, poetic lyrics rarely heard in the poppier sphere these days. Mantra These songs of tribulation are resonating strongly with Britons, and landed Fender another No. All rights reserved. ), "I like Springsteen for the lyrics, and I love War on Drugs for the sound," Fender shares. Because I didnt have things to point at and write about during lockdown I started looking inwards, thinking: theres enough stuff from my own life. A lot of these kids these days, they dont write their own songs. OUT NOW!! Fender's sound and identity as an artist coalesced, with his songwriting skills bucking pop formula. So, it appears time has done the songwriter well. This track would later see him interviewed on Channel 4 News, Fender suddenly a spokesman on the topic. A lot of things that you pass off as insignificant parts of your life end up becoming very significant parts of your character. Your new album draws from your own life more than ever. Spit Of Yous killer feedback solo is a Jazzmaster through a Red Llama pedal: Its this big, fuck-off overdrive Tom Petty said he liked, he says, so I got one. We recognised Raye's dress a mile off! It was a frustrating turn for a BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter whod drawn inspiration for his debut album, 2019s Hypersonic Missiles, from lives and conversations around him in his home of North Shields on Englands northeast coast. Why arent I writing about any of that? We And they dragged her through the mud and made her ill. 100 per cent'. Inside Matt Hancock's 41-hour battle to save his career when photo of 'a snog and heavy petting' with aide Will Vladimir Putin's empress pay the ultimate price for his war on the West? Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. But I wouldnt have had the knowhow or the confidence to try and write that sort of stuff had I not had that. Nevertheless, he landed support slots on the tours of other hopeful newcomers: George Ezra, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Hozier. It was a big night for Sam, who won the Rock/Alternative act award. (WoD frontman Adam Granduciel had signed on to mix that track, but ultimately couldn't do it because he missed the master deadline for his own album. Im always belting.. Lyrically it centres on a moment when Fender saw his father kiss his grandmothers forehead after she died: It was love in all its agony, every bit of me hurting for you/Cos one day thatll be your forehead Im kissing/And Ill still look exactly like you. He has had a thrilling year, clearly, but it has also unsettled him. But more deeply, its in Fenders novelistic eye for local colour, those vivid, real-life details, as on the melancholy Dying Light: This town is a world of waifs and strays, comedy giants, penniless heroes/Dead men at the bar, I drank with them all. It was practically on fire for the whole of 1991. And it's one knob. Alternatively, follow in Raye's fashionable footsteps by bagging an embellished midi dress via the carousel. But with pop music now, a lot of ballady songs are, I love you, you dont love me, or I love you and you love me and its very nice. But I grew up with pretty low self-esteem, though I had enough ego to want to do [music], and I used it as therapy. Sprawling home where JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in 1996 is listed for sale for $7 MILLION by current Royal Mail increase price of first class stamp by 15p to 1.10 in record-breaking hike. It means this "He lived in a different country. 11 Songs, 45 minutes Its just a few days after his triumphant sets at Reading and Leeds Festival and hes still a bit groggy, but when he brandishes his brand-new acquisition a beautiful 1959 Fender Jazzmaster he visibly perks up. ", Sonically, the War on Drugs is one of Fender's favorite bands. After school, a lot of my mates got jobs, settled down. I wrote the horns on Long Way Off, a very Steely Dan-like horn section. He host many of his friends to suicide last year and he had also the same thoughts to attempt suicide during the lockdown period. I wanted it to sound like [the Dans] The Caves Of Altamira meets indie [rock]! Four years ago I was on benefits I need to keep my head. But right now, here he is, in a caf in his home town of North Shields, taking refuge at a corner table, and speaking with all the coiled intensity of one whose life has undergone a radical transformation and is still trying to make sense of it. "I got a guitar when I was 8 and started mucking around with it then. And sex has always been a thing theres a lot of people trying to be the most provocative at the moment.. New award:Adele won the first ever genderless Artist Of The Year gong after the male and female categories were scrapped. YouTube Shorts also sponsored the 2022 Artist of the Year award, which went to Adele. "I've been lucky, Fender's always given us stuff. A lot of those more emotionally challenging parts of my childhood drove me to learn something, so I could have an outlet.. It makes me think that a lot of the sounds in the '80s that sound jarring and cheesy, I feel like it was just because it was the early days with synthesizers and them sorts of guitar sounds. Immediately, youre there, and its romantic. These culture wars are valid wars that need to be fought theres a lot of bigotry, a lot of racism and homophobia. You give your parents a hard time because of course they will do things that upset and hurt you. So Im constantly having to work out ways of successfully playing my shows without killing my voice. Ive bought my first ever daft guitar, he says with a cheeky grin. Speaking to red carpet co-hosts Munya Chawawa and Nella Rose in a clip shared on the official BRITs YouTube channel, Sam spilled: 'We've got a bus full of sausage rolls outside, actually. And every other chorus pedal I put on I'm just like 'pfft whatever.' My family members who voted for it voted for it because they thought that they were going to get money for the NHS. All rights reserved. Throughout much of Hypersonic Missiles, you get the sense of a young man with a tight v stamped permanently on his brow.