Sam Fender - album #3 "People Watching"

Another new (mildly seasonal) song Wild Long Lie, complete with bonus track Me And the Dog (:D) out today:



Those synthy bits in the later choruses are glorious.
 
Yes when the synthy bits kick in it goes next level :disco: what a midweek TREAT
 
I really hope People Watching gets a lovely chart run after Christmas. It just came on the radio amongst the Christmas fodder, and it sounded amazing.
 
Slightly underwhelmed by a climb to #19 this week. It appears to be holding relatively well on Spotify though - since it re-entered at #134 on Boxing Day it's moved 63 - 65 - 73 - 60 - 88 - 105 - 67 - 59, so very consistent. It would be nice if it could get a bit of momentum again, if only to allow it to fend off ACR in a few weeks.
 
I think there some of the newer songs like this will get more of a boost in the next couple of weeks. The chart this week must be hugely influenced by 'best of 24' playlists... also don't the long running songs that were reset from ACR only get another 3 weeks before they will drop back again?
 
I'm not sure how that outperforming the market business works after Christmas. But he will be susceptible to ACR in three weeks himself. I assume he will have increased streams this week to hold that off for one week at least.
 
He's still struggling to get back up after Christmas so I think the song has peaked; still it already opened big so no big loss.

It's not just him though there's a general stagnation in the streaming (moreso than usual for a January I'd say)... "People Watching" is #72 today, but out of songs that have been out less than 2 months, he's #12!
 
funky said:
He's still struggling to get back up after Christmas so I think the song has peaked; still it already opened big so no big loss.

It's not just him though there's a general stagnation in the streaming (moreso than usual for a January I'd say)... "People Watching" is #72 today, but out of songs that have been out less than 2 months, he's #12!
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Yes, it seems that largely people are mainly streaming the songs they were before the Christmas songs started to impact at the start of November - relatively few new songs have broken through at all.

It doesn't look like just a UK thing, either. Die With A Smile is back at #1 globally with 9.5m daily Spotify streams, very nearly the same it was getting two months ago, and not so far below its peak. And four of the top five globally are the same songs as two months ago.

It's not like we didn't know Spotify movement is pretty glacial, but seeing it play out with the same old Christmas songs returning to the chart, only to be replaced by largely the same songs they deposed is just dull. Particularly when historically, the first few weeks of the new year were when you'd have some real WTF chart action, and it was a good time for labels to break new acts.
 
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And again, I don’t know how it benefits the industry in the long term.
 
It's bonkers. The Christmas songs domination is boring enough in itself, but it also pretty much guarantees that the charts in January is very similar to how it was back in October/November with ACR resets, and just adds to the stagnation.
 
Arm's Length straight to Radio 1 and Radio 2 A list. Same as People Watching did.

He's number 2 on iTunes behind Lola. No Spotify data yet.
 
Seems like they haven’t finished with People Watching just yet - there’s a video landing in a few days featuring Andrew Scott.

If he gets a Brits performance slot, he’ll probably perform this and get another boost out of it, but I hope he performs 2 tracks because this has already been all over radio for 2 months now. I’d like to see another song get similar attention.
 
It sounds SO FUCKING GOOD on the radio. I'm not sure which godforsaken commercial chart channel my mother has on, but it came on yesterday while I was at hers, and the drive and urgency of it compared to the rest of the sea of beige was something else.

I don't think it has realised its full potential, but working with the timetable he's got, and the timing of the Brits (performance slot or not), it looks like it may be that some of that potential is sacrificed.
 
I'm not sure I could face that crowd, or face the majority of that undercard :D :zombie:

I will see him live solo at SOME POINT
 


Side A
People Watching
Tyrants (Previously only available via limited & sold-out People Watching 7")
Empty Spaces (Previously Unreleased)

Side B
I'm Always On Stage (Previously Unreleased)
Me And The Dog (Never pressed on vinyl before, previously only available via People Watching CD Single)
People Watching – Live at The O2 Arena, London (Never pressed on vinyl before)

There'll probably be a deluxe edition of the album eventually but still want.
 
I've been trying with this but I think it is the first miss for me:



I appreciate the sentiment and emotion but musically it comes off kind of discordant.
 
He always does one of those ploddy acoustic ones on every album. This one doesn’t work.

Album out Friday. Very excited.
 
funky said:
Why is he not performing at The Brits? :cry:
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It was announced today that he and Lola Young will be performing (not together) alongside the previously announced Jade, Myles Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and The Last Dinner Party
 
Had a listen last night, it’s more laid back than I expected but it’s wonderful. Really special. And thats just from a quick listen.

A song called something Empire is the one.
 
Very good as expected. Crumbling Empire and Nostalgia's Lie are my early favourites.

I've seen a few reviews pick out Remember My Name as the standout. I still struggle with the brass band but I've warmed to it a bit.
 
Enjoy it on first listen but as usual I spend half my time wondering what other song many of the songs sound like.
 
People Watching is soooo Brandon Flowers coded. the way his voice rises as that chorus explodes. I like it!
 
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/sam-fender-people-watching-number-1-album/

Shifting 107,100 chart units in its first seven days, People Watching earns Sam the biggest opening week of his career to date, and of the year so far. His 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles managed a 40,900 opening week, while 2021’s Seventeen Going Under netted 43,700.

This earns Sam the biggest opening week for a British artist since the release of Harry Styles’s Harry’s House three years ago, which racked up 113,000 in its first week back in May 2022.
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That's a pretty significant step up.
 
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