Sam Fender says new album "took some working out" after Seventeen Going Under

6 November 2024, 15:23 | Updated: 6 November 2024, 17:16

Sam Fender in 2023 — Sam Fender has opened up about his new album. Picture: Joseph Okpako/WireImage

By Jenny Mensah

The Geordie singer-songwriter has talked about the making of his third studio album in a new post.

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Sam Fender has revealed he wasn't immediately sure which direction to go in with his new album.

The North Shields singer-songwriter is preparing to release his third album and the follow-up to 2021's Seventeen Going Under, and he told his fans it took some time to work out where "the hell" to go next.

Sharing footage of himself in the studio along with a preview of his People Watching track, he shared: "We spent this spring in LA with legend Adam Granduciel @thewarondrugs piecing together the new record. Some of the songs had been rattling round in my head for a while so there was material I’d written in Newcastle and London already. Figuring out where the hell to go after 17 took some working out but I got there in the end."

Fender previously confirmed that his third studio album is complete and "mastered" and he began teasing that fans would be getting an update on it very soon.

After launching a live countdown on his website, the Play God singer announced the details of his 2024 People Watching UK & Ireland tour as well as European dates for 2025.

His December dates will include shows at Manchester's Co-op Live and The O2, London, plus a homecoming gig at Newcastle's Utilita Arena, where fans who were local residents were prioritised with a special invite.

See Sam Fender's 2024 UK & Ireland People Watching Tour dates:

2nd December – 3Arena, Dublin
4th December – First Direct Arena, Leeds
6th December – Co-Op Live, Manchester
7th December - Co-op Live, Manchester - NEW SHOW ADDED
10th December – The O2, London
12th December - The O2, London - NEW SHOW ADDED
13th December – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
16th December – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
17th December - OVO Hydro Glasgow - NEW SHOW ADDED
20th December – Utilita Arena, Newcastle

Meanhwile, Sam Fender's official website still has a countdown clock, which suggests fans will be hearing about his third studio album in less than a week.

So far, he's debuted two new songs from the as-yet-untitled record; Nostalgia's Lie and People Watching, which he first played at his intimate pre-Boardmasters show at Plymouth Pavillions this August.

Listen to People Watching live, which he later performed at Boardmasters, below:

Live at Boardmasters ::: 10.08.2024

It's been a longer wait for album number three after the release of 2019's Hypersonic Missiles and 2021's Seventeen Going Under, which both scored a number one on the UK Albums Chart.

However, the singer-songwriter revealed that he didn't want to rush the record if it was going to be "s***".

Speaking on Sky Arts' Johnson and Knopfler's Music Legends, he explained: "We have been recording and recording and making loads of stuff but it got to the point where I thought, ‘We don’t need to get this out yet. We need to get it right’."

The BRITs Critics Choice winner added: “For the second one we rushed to get that out and the third one we started rushing and I thought, ‘No, we have got to take the time’.

“I want to do the best I possibly can. I’d rather it be late and great than early and s****.

“What we have got so far I am absolutely over the moon with but I want to give it that bit more time and more thought.”