Sam Fender - People Watching (LP) Vinyl

People Watching is the third studio album by the English musician Sam Fender, released on 21 February 2025 through Polydor Records. It was co-produced by Adam Granduciel, Markus Dravs and Fender himself, with additional production from his bandmates Dean Thompson and Joe Atkinson.

Fender announced the record on 13 November 2024 and released the title track two days later, the first of six singles taken from the album. He has described it as a set of "colourful stories and observations of everyday characters living their everyday, but often extraordinary, lives".

Recording

Much of the album took shape with Adam Granduciel, frontman and producer of The War on Drugs, who hosted Fender and his band for roughly five weeks in March 2024. Some songs had already been started; others were built from the ground up in those sessions. The penultimate track "Something Heavy" carries additional vocals from Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, and the closing single "Remember My Name" features the Easington Colliery Band, a traditional brass band from County Durham.

Artwork

The sleeve uses a photograph by the late Tish Murtha, the social documentary photographer known for recording marginalised communities and working class life in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Reception

People Watching entered the UK Albums Chart at number one on 28 February 2025, Fender's third consecutive number one and the biggest opening week of his career at 107,100 chart units. That was the largest opening week for a British solo artist since Harry Styles's Harry's House in 2022, and its 43,000 first week vinyl sales made it the fastest selling vinyl album by a British act this century. It holds a Metacritic score of 85 from sixteen reviews, indicating universal acclaim, and won the 2025 Mercury Prize on 16 October 2025. Fender donated the entire £25,000 prize to the Music Venue Trust.

This Pressing

This is the standard single LP on black vinyl, issued in Europe by Polydor under catalogue number 5550322 and cut at 33 RPM. It comes in a standard sleeve with a printed inner sleeve carrying the full lyrics and credits.

Track Listing

Side A
1. People Watching
2. Nostalgia's Lie
3. Chin Up
4. Wild Long Lie
5. Arm's Length

Side B
6. Crumbling Empire
7. Little Bit Closer
8. Rein Me In
9. TV Dinner
10. Something Heavy
11. Remember My Name