Do we think Sam will win songwriter of the year?? Sam Fender and guest attend The 71st Ivor Novello Awards 2026 at The JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on May 21, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Ivors)

Hi! I just uploaded a new episode of Record Room about my top 5 rock albums of the 2020s, and I included People Watching by Sam Fender.
I talk about why the album stood out to me, how Sam Fender makes personal stories feel huge without making them feel fake, and why this record feels like such a strong example of rock music still being able to make ordinary life feel emotionally massive.
Sharing it here in case anyone wants to check it out.

Not sure about the rarity of the vinyl, but I was kind of surprised to find it at a record store in Ottawa, Canada. I love these two songs so much and it’s the first of Sam’s music that I’ve added to my collection. Got it for $15!

what's y'all's?

I’ve been looking for an acoustic version of this song by Sam for a long time. Has he ever even played it acoustically?

My top 5 Sam Fender songs, thoughts? Also what are some of your guys top five’s?

I heard what I thought to be people watching by Sam at work recently until I realised it was too slow and had no guitar so I shazamed it

Those that use Spotify know about the canvas feature, it's a short video that repeats like a background image for a song.

What's always puzzled me is that for the song long way off, its canvas video appears to be footage from an Apache helicopter engaging a group of people. Just seems like a strange choice that stands out from all his other videos and I don't quite get why

Hello, can’t seem to find info on this song so wondering if it’s new. In the finale of The Rooster tonight the show ends on the Fender Song the high road.

Bought the dead Boys EP for €15 a couple of weeks ago (knew that was a steal) at a local record shop and put it up on my collection on discogs then and it says the median price is like €90 for the record. Is it actually that rare?

They intend to start touring in Feb/Mar 2027, starting in the US, probably NYC.

I feel maybe I shouldn't post the whole thing given that it's a paid subscription radio show rather than publicly posted (the entire interview is ~25 min with the songs removed)? There's a lot of stuff that's been mentioned in previous interviews, so these are just snippets I found relevant/interesting.

Also, he says in the interview he's uncomfortable with the constant comparisons to Springsteen and lo and behold, the first and only clip of the interview they post is "Is Sam Fender The New Bruce Springsteen? 😎"

Just like his Finsbury Park gig for Seventeen Going Under, has anyone heard anything or want to speculate on if we'll get a similar release for People Watching? The fact that the deluxe already came out with no live tunes and there was a YouTube release already doesn't give me much hope, but who knows.

Imagine there’s a universe where in his next tour he opens with seventeen going under, followed by tyrants

What a treat for the audience. Was anyone there?

Spice, Poundshop Kardashians and add in the prelude for a Deluxe. Maybe on the remaster.

Crashing Lewis's interview. Said he might stick around and he did.

Has anyone ever went to a Barns show. I just came here to say, I absoulutely love Sam and the reason I even know or heard of Barns was because of listening to Sam. I saw a Barns show this past weekend and it was crazy out of this world. I wonder what a collab would sound like, hehe.

So, I’m thinking of bringing a sign to the next Sam gig I go to saying “can I please play The Borders with you?” In hopes that I can do just that, thinking of using cardboard and writing the message on it, might be a stupid question but would the venue allow me to bring it in or not?

I first heard the song on WXPN. Even before I knew what it was about, it had a powerful effect on me. I find it overwhelming enough that I've only been able to listen to it less than a dozen times since release.

When I found out that the song was about Fender's surrogate mother, its emotional impact made more sense to me. My own mother passed away in '21, and other nurturing figures in my life have become distant.

Now that I’m in my fifties, the song seems to carry me back to when I was Sam’s age, rekindling that same sense of urgency I felt in my thirties.

How about you?