Two years have passed since Sam Fender released his debut album "Hypersonic Missiles" and promptly climbed to number one in the British album charts. A year earlier, the English singer-songwriter had already turned out to be a real insider tip for indie rock fans with his EP "Dead Boys".

in 2021, he continues to tell the story of his debut, with his new, second album, "Seventeen Going Under."

Fender holds up a mirror to himself on it. It's a coming-of-age album, he says, about youth and the trials and tribulations of growing up. At the same time, he says, it's a celebration of life after adversity and a celebration of survival.

Fender on the album: "It's a relatable journey through an often wasted youth, tumultuous relationships with friends and family, and trying to figure out what's next and how to get there."

He wrote eleven songs for it and recorded them together with producer Bramwell Bronte in his birthplace of North Shields in England. The small town, he says, is the backdrop for these deeply personal vignettes of a young life that breathlessly accelerates from zero to sixty, slams on the brakes and jumps back from where it started. The album, he says, tells of all the fond memories, tricky encounters and events that Sam can't forget.

With the title track "Seventeen Going Under" Sam Fender released the first single in July. And it shows: Also in terms of sound, the 27-year-old 2021 ties in with his predecessor: Indie rock and pop with a lot of feeling, a great voice with a charming British accent still form the musical components of his secret recipe. And also comparisons with Bruce Springsteen, which were already drawn on "Hypersonic Missiles", are absolutely justified here

Review

A1 Seventeen Going Under
A2 Getting Started
A3 Aye
A4 Get You Down
A5 Long Way Off
A6 Spit Of You
B1 Last To Make It Home
B2 Leveller
B3 Mantra
B4 Paradigms
B5 The Dying Light