Sam Fender is teasing a huge comeback with billboards all over his native north-east stomping ground North Shields – along with some serious social media action.
The Spit of You hitmaker, 30, last released music in 2021 with his second album Seventeen Going Under, which followed on from his debut Hypersonic Missiles two years prior.
It’s been a long wait for fans up and down the country, but now it seems Sam is about to announce something huge.
Coincidentally – or perhaps not so – Sam’s big announcements will come just in time for the November Glastonbury ticket drop, as he’s tipped for the festival in 2025 alongside names including Olivia Rodrigo, Fred Again, Harry Styles, and Eminem.
Having rallied fans to sign up for his mailing list and also to receive texts – which satisfyingly pop up in phones as Sam Fender, nice touch – his website now features two countdowns.
One is set for Friday 18 October at 10am, and the other is counting down to Wednesday 13 November also at 10am, leading fans to think this could be a double album or single and tour drop.
He’s certainly been working on music, having posted many videos of unfamiliar song snippets, and pictures of him in the studio.
Now, teaser posters blazoned on vans and buildings have also been spotted all over the country, especially in Newcastle, where billboard were spotted outside NUFC’s St James’ Park stadium.
The van posters simply showed an image of Sam’s eyes through a rectangular gap surrounded by a blurry backdrop, with the only writing his website URL: samfender.com.
Fans are naturally going wild at the action, as @TheRandLMill took to X with a screengrab of his website and said: ‘IT’S HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM SAM FENDER IS BACK Friday People Watching?!?!?!’
‘SAM FENDER IS BACK. I REPEAT SAM FENDER IS BACK,’ raved @kizmew, while @AngelinLothian7 said: ‘Sam Fender is actually Back feel like I’m gonna vomit.’
This comes after Sam confirmed that his third studio album was finished and ‘mastered’.
In August, he gave a taste of his upcoming single People Watching along with another track from the upcoming album Nostalgia’s Lie, both of which he played at Boardmasters Festival.
In an interview on Sky Arts’ Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends earlier this year, Sam explained why there was a three-year gap between his last album and this one.
‘The third one we started rushing and I thought, “No, we have got to take the time”,’ he explained.
‘I want to do the best I possibly can. I’d rather it be late and great than early and shite.
‘What we have got so far I am absolutely over the moon with but I want to give it that bit more time and more thought.’
Speaking to NME in September 2022 as he announced his huge St James’ gig – the first ever stadium one with his devoted home crowd – Sam admitted playing there had been a ‘running joke’ with the band.
‘We used to be like, “Ah, imagine if we headlined St James’ one day!” Now that it’s happening, it’s a little bit bizarre,’ he admitted.
At the gig, which also had a pre-party hosted by Newcastle-born bakery Greggs,Geordie dads were seen on shoulders rocking along to his tracks in what was a historic moment for the city.
Speaking about the St James’ gig, he continued to the publication: ‘No actual Geordie band has ever done it.
‘Brian Johnson did it with AC/DC, but they were already an Australian band that were doing well [before he joined].
‘For the whole band to be from the area and to play there, it’s a really, really big thing for us.’