People Watching has not so much redefined Sam Fender as it has subtly overhauled his sound. Those roaring guitars on the singles are all there is of the previous image. Like any great artist, Fender has explored new tones, and expressed a genuine desire to try a fresh sound. His string reliance may not be the boldest move, but it provides such mighty contrast to Seventeen Going Under and Hypersonic Missiles. This is crucial. You cannot just play the same tones through for half a decade. Tyrants gets this, too. A non-album track worth hunting down. The context it adds to People Watching and the sound which stretches far beyond, the pride and sincerity Fender has frequently captured in his music, is brilliant. There was a low hum of worry in those early singles, the suggestion Fender would stick to his guns. People Watching, and Tyrants too, moves him on to the next grand step.
Tyrants may be the guitar-heavy sound Fender has made his own, but it is a new feel, a different direction. That is crucial. It is not enough to exist; it must be for the benefit of artistic pursuit that these extra songs are made. Tyrants was cut from People Watching and it is easy to hear why. It feels like a song which could fit on either Seventeen Going Under or People Watching. But this is also its strongest point. Tyrants is a transition track which may make the move from sound to sound that much easier for listeners not quite convinced by Fender’s new style. Flickers of the past come through with the instrumentals, the guitar work from Fender always evolving and yet sidelined on his recent release. Strings and brass are the new aim for People Watching and, as welcome as it is, it feels almost hypocritical to want further guitar work considering the two albums preceding it.
Tyrants offers that, but it also lightens the tone and provides a stiffer lyrical punch. Deeper grooves to the guitar work, a sharpened focus on the percussion, it is about using the same tools in pursuit of a different sound. Tyrants succeeds. A song of travelling and tribulations which hears Fender sounds off on the hopes and dreams that shatter when brought into the real world. Seventeen Going Under was filled with memories and nostalgia, People Watching, as well as Tyrants, hears a cautious approach to the future. Backing vocal work from Brooke Bentham is sensational here, on par with the emotional clarity Fender so often provides. A guitar solo which does not steal the spotlight, that is crucial for Tyrants, and that is what Fender provides.
There is a sense of self-liberation, of defying ego and past experiences, in the pursuit of a fresh start. The future provides that and Tyrants, as much as it talks of those high and mighty, that pride before the fall, is an ongoing, positive punch. Fender has found the fame he feared on Seventeen Going Under and moulded it with charm. For those struggling to make the transition to this new sound, for those who fear change and would wish to contain Fender and other modern artists in a bubble of knowable, familiar territory, Tyrants may change your mind. A song which appeals to the guitar-heavy days but also the heady, emotional delights too.
