It’s been a hard time for Northerners (or anyone in the UK, let’s face it) in the last dregs of 2019. Government’s gone to shit, those of us in work are underwhelmed and unfulfilled, yet despite that, we’re still skint. And then, the good Lord graced us with Sam Fender and his stunning debut album, Hypersonic Missiles.
After grafting his back off in way of sheer promotion, Fender’s graced our ears with a body of work that is nothing short of necessary. ‘White Privilege’, for instance, is an uncomfortably close microcosm of bringing hometown issues to the mainstream. Aside from thinking, “does this song have a chorus?” it’ll fill even the most sceptical of heads with “fucking hell, the lad does have a point.”
He’s a wee bit sad. Bit sombre. Bit sexy? Yeah, it’s a bit sexy – ‘Call Me Lover’ is a heavy, dirty tune that’ll shag your ears clean off the side of your head. Sex is just as important as politics, and in Fender’s love language we see him trying to change attitudes before they change him.
Hypersonic Missiles flows beautifully, and to place any criticism at all would be to say the track order is a little bit clumsy – but that can be written down to a Geordie wonderkid who’s likely still in awe of his own success. Fender’s been intelligent without being condescending, and steers to being more self-critical than any false sense of being ‘woke’.
It’s an important debut. And yes, we know Sam Fender sounds a bit like Bruce Springsteen.
Haiku Review
Working-class hero,
Sam Fender can do no wrong:
Big things for this lad.
Listen to Sam Fender on Spotify or Apple.
