Featured image: Georgina Hurdsfield

Sam Fender has become impossible to ignore in the past year, from being crowned the Mercury Prize winner to releasing his best-selling album, selling out stadiums, and receiving four Brit Award nominations.

The Geordie’s indie-pop anthems and addictive, rock-influenced tunes provide something for the masses to sing their hearts out to. If you’re looking to get into Fender’s music but have no idea where to start, this is for you.

From Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under to People Watching, Fender hasn’t had a disappointing moment in his career, with each of his albums reaching a staggering No.1 on the UK charts. He has also collaborated with iconic musicians, from Olivia Dean and Noah Kahn, to the legendary Elton John.

While the Geordie has been named the ‘king of the north’ by the BBC, for many listeners he’s so much more than this – he acts as a mouthpiece for those who feel misrepresented in society, offering a sense of relatability, introspection and community.

Here are six tracks that will take you from casual listener to full-fledged fan.

If you like ‘Spit Of You‘, listen to ‘You’re Not the Only One‘

Without a doubt ‘Spit of You’ will tug on your heart strings without ever being sloppy or cliché. Like many other Fender songs, it’s open to interpretation but ultimately focuses on an emotionally complex relationship between a father and son, who are so similar yet so different all at once. Unable to express their understanding of another, a wedge is driven between them as they battle their emotions. 

Evidently inspired by Springsteen, with its guitar-driven melodic sound accompanied by the saxophone, ‘You’re Not the Only One’ strongly resembles the track. Through a rollercoaster of highs and lows, it emphasises how nobody is truly ever alone in their feelings. Sounding as if it were pulled straight from a poem, his storytelling skills are impossible not to admire. 

If you like ‘Rein Me In’, listen to ‘Call Me Lover‘

A truly beautiful song that was taken to a whole new level when it was re-released featuring Olivia Dean. Conveying the overwhelming vulnerability that comes with allowing yourself to commit to love, it delves into topical themes including toxic masculinity, insecurity and self-sabotage. 

While it’s not as heavy, you’ll find yourself playing ‘Call Me Lover’ on repeat until it hits the same as it did the first time – just as people do with ‘Rein Me In’. Dating back to the early days of his career, it has a pop-esque quality about it that differs from his current sound. The main protagonist experiences the turmoil of embryonic love, as well as the thrill, insecurity, and pressure that comes with this – something most of us can relate to.

If you like ‘Getting Started’, listen to ‘Start Again’ 

Whether you know it from its viral days or as a commercial advert jingle, ‘Getting  Started’ is undeniably a tune. From its catchiness to relatability, it’s an anthem for anyone facing struggle and in need of release, as well as voicing the complexities of being young and helpless while carrying the world on your shoulders.

It’s completely understandable that there’s only so many times you can listen to a song, but this one offers a restart – almost literally. ‘Start Again’ is arguably one of Fender’s most underrated tracks; it’s a demonstration of why he’s currently one of the most prominent names in modern rock. Exploring social issues and referencing  historical mistakes, he communicates the desire and hope for a better future, ‘without the fear of being heard’.

If you like ‘Hypersonic Missiles’, listen to ‘Poundshop Kardashians‘

This is the song that made most of us fall in love with Fender’s music. Despite being released over six years ago, ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ is more relevant now than ever. 

Following a comic-loving theorist who reflects on the turbulence of society and fears the end of the world, it transforms into an “unorthodox love song.” It reinforces the feeling of helplessness in the face of the world’s tragedies while attempting to teach listeners to live for each moment. 

The same energy is captured in ‘Poundshop Kardashians’. It’s one to sing, even cry, and scream your lungs out to. Confronting materialistic lifestyles, fame, idolisation, and hypocrisy, Fender implies that in order for real cultural shift to occur, we ourselves must make change – not just preach it.

If you like ‘Seventeen Going Under’, listen to ‘The Borders’

If you’ve made it this far, I’m assuming you know the song that completely transformed his career. While on reflection, ‘Seventeen Going Under’ feels like one of those rare songs (a one-hit wonder) that are impossible to compete with – so much so that artists spend years trying to achieve a song that reaches beyond that level – it arguably isn’t even Fender’s best song. This absolute masterpiece not only stands out as a coming-of-age story but as an exploration of what it means to simply be human.

For those who feel the emotional weight of the track and are driven by the feeling of being misunderstood, ‘The Borders’ shares that same heartbeat but echoes through a different lens – two boys, two paths, and a whole lot of emotions.

These songs only offer a glimpse of what Fender’s music has to offer. If these suggestions hit home, trust me when I say that the rest of his music has a habit of doing so too!