Sam Fender secures a record-breaking opening week, with People Watching netting the North Shields native a hat-trick of chart-topping albums.

English singer-songwriter Sam Fender spends the bulk of his third studio album putting his observations about others to anthemic pop rock. The concept is simple.

DIY Magazine gave the album five stars and wrote: "People Watching is a bleak but astonishing rumination on our current times, viewed through the lens of Sam’s whirlwind past few years - an album that undoubtedly firms up his position as one of the great songwriters of our time."

Most notably, Fender adds that he’s “desperate” to record a punk album. “I’m buzzing! I’m just singing at you!” he tells the interviewer, going so far as to belt out a Tom Petty-esque track as a preview.

Devastating observations about the trials of everyday life are part of what the English singer-songwriter is all about

A confident if predictable third album that showcases the North Shields native’s strengths – and his reluctance to push beyond them Six years after the explosive debut of Hypersonic Missiles, Sam Fender’s star has only risen.

While discourse on many topics grows toxic and polarised, it’s the voices who speak plainly about the reality of everyday lives that provide some sanity and make us feel heard. Enter Sam Fender, whose straight talking and pride of his working-class roots has seen him emerge as a figurehead for the younger generation,

After a long, patient wait by fans, the time has finally come for Sam Fender to release his third album. Put out to the world on Friday, February 21 ‘People Watching’ brings an end to the ‘Seventeen Going Under’ period of Fender’s career - a hugely impressive time which saw the star go from performing at the old Academy in Newcastle to selling out consecutive nights at St James Park.