Hi, everyone. Switchthony Cardtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Sam Fender album, People Watching.

Here we have the third full-length LP from UK singer-songwriter, Mr. Sam Fender. The guy has been making waves since the start of this decade, and in just a few short years, he has proven to become a bit of a songwriter-songwriter on the mainstream scene. He has three Brit Awards to his name, I believe, and has had nods from greats like Mark Knopfler, multiple viral singles, even early on, in fact.

And he is still picking up momentum on this new LP with the title track charting really well, especially in the UK. I will be honest, though, I have been tuned out for the Sam Fender hype up until this point. So I went into this record hoping to hear some great new hope in the music industry, especially for rock music, as Sam does seem to have a soft spot for the classic stuff. But if Sam Fender is representative of what could potentially become a new wave of commercially viable rock music in the mainstream, I'm going to be sorely disappointed if this is how it's going to sound, because I'm just failing to see what the big deal is here.

Not that what Sam does is the worst thing or is totally unlistenable, but I feel like we already have this, but better or at least on par. For example, Sam's songwriting on this album is deeply indebted to greats like Bruce Springsteen, for example, especially on the title track of this thing. It's to the point where he's sounding maybe just a bit too close for comfort to artists who I think are drinking from the same well. I mean, if I want to hear some Boss cosplay, I guess I'd rather listen to a Jack Antonoff or Bleachers album at this point, especially since he's good for at least several great choruses per album.

But I don't even want to argue that Sam Fender's sound is close to Bruce Springsteen's in the way that Jack Antonoff's is. Because really what I'm hearing on this album feels more like an echo of an echo or an impression of an impression. Frankly, a lot of the tracks on this thing sound like any number of cuts that could have landed on the last few Killers records or even Brandon Flowers' debut solo LP, where you can already hear a lot of Springsteen love.

But in Sam's case here with this record, it's done with much worse production that just feels like a blander, paler imitation of a classic heartland rock down. The guitars have very little bite. There isn't really much in the way of a rustic twang to speak of. Generally, it's just all too derivative and nondescript for words. In fact, "Wild Long Lie" sounds like a bad demo from a Brandon Flowers album to my ears. Same for the track "Chin Up", too, if Brandon had been feeling particularly inspired by, I don't know, a Noel Gallagher tune or two in writing.

The rest of the album sounds like an uncanny valley version of this style, or maybe like a focus-grouped version of it. On some level, the record just seems too obsessed with being palatable in order to really channel the blue collar rage and restlessness that defined this era.

Now, to Sam's credit, in his own personal way, he does try to connect with this on tracks such as "Crumbling Empire". But the sensation of listening to all of Sam's other songs on this record, it's like getting a postcard from a place versus actually being there. I mean, maybe my brain is just poisoned from everything I've heard up until now, but I'm just having a hard time getting past how far this album falls short of anything it is so obviously inspired by, and also doesn't really put a recognizable spin on.

To put it bluntly, in various circles of rock music right now, there's really no shortage of Bruce Springsteen worship as well as like '90s rock callbacks. There's a lot of artists doing it, and music fans, young and old, seem to be demanding it, and that's fine. The issue is I just don't see what Sam brings to this wave, because on this record, I feel like he's just checking the bare minimum boxes that you need to in order to land in some play in the background Spotify playlists, which is why I'm feeling a strong three to a light 4 on it.

Anthony Fantano, Sam Fender, Forever.