Sam Fender, Hypersonic Missiles - album review
There’s no doubting Sam Fender has an impressive voice – there’s more than a little of Brandon Flowers to his delivery at times.
But the very nature of his pop slices – ranging from lo-fi ballads to acoustic or piano heartstring-tuggers – make this 13-track debut LP a little stop-start from time to time.
A real beacon of musical success for the north right now, it is fitting Fender recorded all of this in his homemade warehouse studio in North Shields. It was recorded alongside long-standing friend and producer, Bramwell Bronte.
More coverage:
Having picked up the BRITS’ Critics Choice Award last year, there was a ridiculous amount of hype heaped on him, on top of an already sizeable dollop. And there is some very sweet pop work here, but with a little bit of sandwich filler plumping it out from what could have been an exceptional EP.
Of the more notable, there has been a lot of talk around his track White Privilege and his take on whether that includes him or not. Outside of the controversy over the lyrics, the machine gun approach of the vocals over dream-like guitars makes for an atmospheric and sit-up-and-listen track in which he launches a staunch attack on stereotypes and the patriarchy.
One of the fullest rock tracks here, That Sound is perhaps the cherry on this particular cake. Screeching guitars couple with powerful percussion for a full-out rock slam of a chorus which will break up any live show from the slower nature of his other material.
There’s also Saturday, with its heavy and reverberating bassline sticking two fingers up at dead end jobs a lot of us find ourselves slaving over for little reward. More upbeat than it sounds, it also features a fairly stompy chorus which fans will lap up.
There’s also the Arcade Fire-esque percussion of Will We Talk? to enjoy.
Of the slower material, the heartbroken delivery of Leave Fast really shows off the range trapped within Fender’s vocal chords.
But a lot else here just slips by rather forlornly and may have some reaching for the skip button. Too much may have been crowbarred in, and focussing on some elements over others could have made for a more satisfying listen.
Rating: 6/10
Sam Fender will appear at Birmingham’s O2 Academy on December 5, which is sold out – his second sold out gig in the city this year after playing the O2 Institute in May
