Over the past two years or so, the up-and-coming Newcastle, UK-based singer/songwriter Sam Fender has received attention both nationally and internationally for crafting rousingly anthemic material that broadly focuses on hard-hitting social issues, broadly drawing from his own experiences growing up in Northeastern England. Unsurprisingly, the Newcastle-based singer/songwriter was featured on BBC Sound of 2018‘s shortlist, which he promptly followed up with a sold-out headlining UK tour.
Fender built upon a rapidly growing profile with the release of his highly-anticipated EP Dead Boyslast month Polydor Records and EP single “That Sound” is centered around rousing, power chord-based arena rock, centered around enormous, raise-your-beer-in-the-air-and-shout-along worthy hooks, soulful vocals and a bluesy vibe that sonically brings The Black Keys, Slaves, Royal Blood and others to mind. As Fender explained in press notes at the time, “Simply put, ‘That Sound’ is a celebration of music, but it’s also a not-so-subtle middle finger to the naysayers that tend to rear their heads as soon as things start to work out for you, especially back at home. It’s about finding strength to ignore it all, and keep doing your own thing.”
“Play God,” Fender’s attention-grabbing debut single established the Newcastle-based singer/songwriter’s song and overall aesthetic — rousingly anthemic hooks and enormous blues power chords paired with his soulful vocals; however, unlike “That Sound,” the song is centered around politically-charged, conscious lyrics that belie the British singer/songwriter’s relative youth.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts on Vevo’s Vevo DSCVR series. Vevo DSCVR is Vevo’s curated, emerging artist platform, meant to promote the best up-and-coming artists that the video sharing site believes will have a significant impact on the future. Vevo invites the artist to perform some of the best video in a live session and throughout its run, Vevo has featured an impressive and eclectic array of artists including Jack Garratt, James Bay, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Sam Smith, Jorja Smith, Maggie Rogers, Alessia Cara and Ella Eyre among others. This past year has seen Vevo DSCVR inviting up-and-coming pop artists Billie Eilish, Bülow, Donna Missal and Charlotte Lawrence. Interestingly as the year is quickly come to a close, Vevo has been busy announcing their Artists to Watch 2019 list, which included the Mobile, AL-born, Los Angeles, CA-based Elley Duhe, who performed “Savior,” the aforementioned Fender and a lengthy list of others. Recently Fender was invited to perform live version of “That Sound” and “Play God.”
