SAM FENDER

twenty4sevenlifest
Oct 20
3 min read

UK/IRELAND ARENA TOUR SELLS OUT IN UNDER AN HOUR

Sam Fender is pleased to share details of a brand new deluxe version of People Watching, his Mercury Prize winning, chart-topping, critically acclaimed third album released earlier this year.

The deluxe version will be released on 5th December through Polydor Records and includes eight new tracks, released on CD and vinyl.

Pre-order the Deluxe album HERE

In addition to the four tracks that originally featured on Sam’s limited edition Record Store Day vinyl-only Me and The Dog EP, three brand new, previously unheard tracks also feature: Talk To You (feat. Elton John), Fortuna’s Wheel, and The Treadmill. The extra recordings also feature “Rein Me In (with Olivia Dean)” for its first physical release.

To coincide with the announcement, an Elton John collaboration on the brand new track, Talk To You is shared, which finds Elton, Sam’s friend and long-term supporter, on piano. It was recorded during the initial People Watching studio sessions with producer Marcus Dravs in London.

Sam on Talk To You: “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.”

Listen to “Talk To You (feat. Elton John)” HERE.

Elton John on Talk To You: “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 February 2025 release of People Watching sent Sam Fender supernova and right up into the higher echelons of recent British success stories. Selling over 100,000 copies of the record in its first week in the UK alone, People Watching outsold the rest of the top 10 combined becoming the fastest selling album by a British solo artist since Spring 2022. Its release was followed by a slew of sold out stadium dates in the Summer, including the 80,000 London Stadium.

Arriving back in the UK from another US run for last night’s Mercury Prize (his second Mercury nomination), Sam’s ready to see out the rest of the year sharing these new tracks with fans before turning his attention to writing and recording People Watching’s eventual follow-up.

Watch the People Watching trailer here

If Seventeen Going Under was Sam’s “coming of age” record, People Watching is his next step forward - colourful stories and observations of everyday characters living their everyday, but often extraordinary, lives.

Sam Fender’s observations on life as he experiences them have already taken him to headlining Summer festivals (Reading & Leeds, Boardmasters), selling out stadiums, and becoming a bonafide household name. With the instant sell-out of his UK arena tour next month (140,000+ tickets), Sam takes another mighty leap forward into whatever comes next.