The deluxe version of the album will be out on December 5.

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This comes after the album won the 2025 Mercury Prize.

Earlier this year, Sam Fender released the album with a collection of 11 songs including “People Watching”, “Rein Me In”, and “Arm’s Length,”

His latest song, ‘Talk to You’ featuring Elton John will be included on the deluxe version coming out later this year.

Including the Elton John collaboration, the deluxe version will include eight additional tracks: three new, previously unheard songs, and tracks from Sam’s Record Store Day exclusive EP ‘Me and The Dog‘.

‘People Watching’ has been praised for its honesty, heart, and ambition, being described as “cohesive, bold, and deeply moving.” when he won the Mercury Prize for it.

He told the crowd it felt “surreal and beautiful” to accept the prize in his home region, in front of local fans and his family.

Before the announcement of the deluxe version of the album, there was a countdown on his website which fans speculated could have been counting down until the deluxe album is released.

When talking about the song ‘Talk To You‘, Sam Fender said, “Talk to you was written during the People Watching sessions at British Grove – It’s a song about the end of a long relationship – about the regret, the mistakes and the lessons that come with it.”

“It’s that feeling of losing your best friend, and coming to terms with that. I was playing around with the riff and thought what I need is a really good pianist and then hmmm, I wonder who I can call? And of course, who better than Elton John.”

Elton John also shared his thoughts on the collaboration, saying: “Sam was writing and recording in a studio in West London, and called to say he’d written a song with a piano riff that he thought would sound great with me playing it. I couldn’t resist, and it was so much fun playing it for him.”

“I truly love Sam. He’s been a friend for many, many years and it’s incredible to see him grow into being a truly world class artist.”

The deluxe version of album will include songs which Sam said, “weren’t included in the line up of the first record but deserved to be out there.”

Fans can pre-order and pre-save the deluxe album here.

The additional tracklisting for ‘People Watching Deluxe‘ is:

‘I’m Always On Stage’

‘Talk To You (feat. Elton John)’

‘Fortuna’s Wheel’

‘Rein Me In (with Olivia Dean)’

‘Me and The Dog’

‘Tyrants’

‘The Treadmill’

‘Empty Spaces’

]]> https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/sam-fender-announces-deluxe-edition-of-his-album/feed/ 0 https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/sam-fender-releases-new-single-in-anticipation-for-album-people-watching/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/sam-fender-releases-new-single-in-anticipation-for-album-people-watching/#comments Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:20:49 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=105773 British singer and songwriter Sam Fender has released a new single in anticipation of his upcoming album ‘People Watching‘. The song, titled ‘Arm’s Length’, is the third single off the album to be released so far, following ‘People Watching‘ and ‘Wild Long Lie‘. ‘People Watching’ is currently set to be released on February 21 under the label Polydor, and it can be preserved here.

In an interview with NME, Fender has discussed the single, stating:

“[The song] originally came from one of those magic moments where you’re just messing around, and a song literally falls out of the sky. It’s about being avoidant and flighty. But also, just a simple pop song, which I love.”

The song marks Fender’s third release off ‘People Watching‘. The artist had announced the album in October 2024, and since he has released the title track, which peaked at number four on UK charts, and ‘Wild Long Lie’ which did not appear on UK charts. The former is currently charting at number twenty, nine weeks after its first debut on charts.

‘People Watching’ marks Fender’s third release of a full-length album. In 2019, he released his debut album titled ‘Hypersonic Missiles‘ which peaked at number one on UK charts ands pent 123 weeks on charts so far, currently charting at number 94. Off of the record, four songs appeared on charts: Fender’s chart debut with ‘Play God‘ which peaked at number 89, the record’s title track which peaked at 48, ‘Will We Talk’ which peaked at 43 and ‘The Borders‘ which peaked at 59.

Following his successful debut with ‘Hypersonic Missiles‘, Fender went on to release ‘Seventeen Going Under‘ in 2021; the album marked the artist’s second consecutive number one record. ‘Seventeen Going Under‘ spent one week at number one and an overall of 97 weeks in the top 100, and is currently charting at number 92. After becoming a viral sensation on social media, the record’s title track peaked at number three in the UK, marking Fender’s highest peak so far as well as his longest-charting single with 93 weeks.

Shortly after announcing the release of his third album Fender embarked on a tour in anticipation of it, which took him around the UK. Highly anticipated is also Fender’s upcoming stadium tour which is set to take place this summer and will stop in London and in Newcastle.

Fender was nominated today for two BRITs awards and has invited his fans to vote for him in the ‘Best Rock/Alternative Act’ Category over his social media profiles.

Super surprised to be nominated for two @BRITs. Best Alternative/Rock act is voted for by the fans. Info on how to vote here https://t.co/CQTiSraJMF
Big love legends – you know what to do pic.twitter.com/W0sV4oqpZQ

— Sam Fender (@samfendermusic) January 23, 2025

The news was teased on social media, with Fender hinting at “more album news next Wednesday” following the release date announcement for his upcoming single. The message, posted on his X account, created a buzz among fans eager for updates.

buzzing man, can’t wait to hear the new songs and see u on tour!

— louis (@louisbrooks28) November 8, 2024

Fender’s first two albums, Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under, have cemented his place as one of the North East’s most significant contemporary artists. Both albums reached the top spot in the charts, and the title track from his second album, ‘Seventeen Going Under’ was a sleeper hit, charting at number 3, six months after its release.

  In October, Fender also announced an extensive UK and European tour to promote the new album. Tickets were in massive demand, with all UK dates and all but two of the European dates selling out in under 12 hours.

 

 

 

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Fender described the process of creating the album as intensive, saying, “Me and the band have picked away at these songs for the last couple of years.” He added that the group had recorded a substantial amount of material before finalising the tracklist.

He explained, “We recorded so much material in that time and deliberated long and hard over what came next. We settled on this collection for our next outing.” 

Me and the band have picked away at these songs for the last couple of years, we recorded so much material in that time and deliberated long and hard over what came next. We settled on this collection for our next outing.

— Sam Fender (@samfendermusic) November 13, 2024

‘People Watching’, the lead single, will likely offer fans a preview of the album’s tone and direction. The track release on November 15 has generated considerable excitement amongst fans, being the first piece of new material the 30-year old has released since 2022 (although he did feature on Noah Kahan’s ‘Homesick’ earlier this year).

People Watching, the album’s lead single, holds particular significance for Fender, who wrote it as a tribute to someone he considered “like a surrogate mother.” The song reflects his grief after her passing last November, which he processed while moving between her bedside and home. “I was by her side at the end, slept on a chair next to her,” he shared.  

Fender noted the irony of the song’s dedication, as this figure was the one who gave him the confidence to take the stage. “She’d always say, ‘why haven’t you mentioned my name in your acceptance speech.’ But now an entire song (and album) connects to her. I hope she’s looking down saying, ‘about time, kid.’”

It’s kind of ironic because she was the one that gave me the confidence to go on stage, and used to be like ‘why haven’t you mentioned my name in your acceptance speech’. But now an entire song (and album) connects to her. I hope she’s looking down saying ‘about time kid’. — Sam Fender (@samfendermusic) November 7, 2024

The single ‘People Watching’ releases this Friday, with the full album to follow in February. Fans can pre-order the album here, and you can also pre-save the single on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon Music here.

Here’s the album’s trailer to get you excited!