Sam Fender says lockdown shaped personal edge to new album: “It was a very introspective time”

Sam Fender has discussed how lockdown gave him the chance to mine new emotional and personal depths while recording his second album.

The singer, who released ‘Seventeen Going Under’ last month, explained how his songwriting took an introspective turn after the first coronavirus lockdown forced him to remain indoors.

“It was difficult to write so personally but it also happened naturally and by accident because of the lockdown, really,” Fender explained on set at his first ever Rolling Stone UK cover shoot.

Before the lockdown hit, Fender says his songwriting was heavily influenced by everyday interactions with friends and the world at large.

“It was difficult to write so personally but it also happened naturally and by accident because of the lockdown, really,” he said.

“Normally I have things to point at, but over this lockdown there was nothing going on. There was no social interaction, no pub chat. A very introspective time and I spent a lot of it looking inwards, thinking about being a kid, thinking about my mates and the ones that aren’t here anymore.”

He also explained how the loss of a friend to suicide inspired the soaring final track ‘The Dying Light’ – a thematic companion to ‘Dead Boys’ from his solo album.

“One of my friends that we lost last year, spurred on a load of creativity. One of the tracks off the album is almost a sequel to ‘Dead Boys’ off the first record. It’s the final song off the record and it’s a triumph over that time,” he said.

Asked about the most personal tracks on the record, he added: “I think ‘Spit of You’. It’s about my dad. ‘Seventeen Going Under’ because that’s about my experiences of being in Shields with my mother and being skint. There’s ‘The Last To Make It Home’ too. If it was a movie that would be the low point because that’s the bit where things are going wrong.

“‘The Dying Light’ is this sort of redemption, y’know.”

Elsewhere, Fender also opened up on inequalities within the music industry, calling for working-class musicians to be given a fairer shot at success.

“When I meet musicians who are from quite affluent backgrounds, I find it hard not to have some sort of prejudice. I don’t want to, but I can feel a chip on my shoulder,” he said in his Rolling Stone cover interview.

“It’s because the kids from where I’m from don’t get the money.”

Hailing ‘Seventeen Going Under‘ in a four star review, Rolling Stone UK wrote: “The stories on ‘Seventeen Going Under’ are deeply personal, but the gusto and care with which they’re tackled and presented make them universal – a skill shared by all the best songwriters.”