BRITs Critics’ Choice Winner Sam Fender Announces Debut Album
The album showcases Fender’s guitar-fuelled indie rock style and was made at his self-built warehouse studio in North Shields in north-east England.
Sam Fender, who won the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award at the end of 2018, has announced details of his debut album Hypersonic Missiles, to be released by Polydor on 9 August.
The album showcases Fender’s customised, guitar-fuelled indie rock style and was written, recorded and produced at his self-built warehouse studio in North Shields in north-east England. He made the record with his long-standing friend and producer, Bramwell Bronte.
The album will include the title track, for which Fender shared the video earlier this month, directed by Vincent Haycock (Lana Del Rey, Florence + The Machine) and filmed in Los Angeles. It’s Haycock’s third video for the British artist following ‘Dead Boys’ and ‘Play God.’
The 24-year-old working class musician, who plays the guitar that shares his name, now sells out shows instantly. Among his packed upcoming schedule, Fender’s 11 July hometown show at Tynemouth Castle in North Shields sold 4,000 tickets in no time. The very next day, he will head south to support Bob Dylan and Neil Young in London’s Hyde Park. A recent US trip confirmed that the buzz about this breakthrough artist had already crossed the Atlantic.
Fender was driving past his old secondary school when he heard that he had won his BRIT Award — the very location where a teacher once told him to shelve his musical aspirations because they would amount to nothing. In winning the Critics’ Choice title, he joins a distinguished list that also included Adele, Florence & The Machine, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding.
It’s been a remarkable rise for a young man who dropped out of school early and worked behind the bar in a local pub. He was discovered by his eventual manager when the pub’s landlord, recognising Sam, urged him to play something, which he did with such persuasive power that the pair have worked with each other ever since.
Hypersonic Missiles is released on 9 August. Scroll down for the full tracklisting, and pre-order it here.
Hypersonic Missiles tracklisting:
Hypersonic Missiles
The Borders
White Privilege
Dead Boys
You’re Not The Only One
Play God
That Sound
Saturday
Will We Talk In The Morning
Two People
Call Me Lover
Leave Fast
Use (live)
UK English
