10 Near Perfect Rock Albums Of The 2020s

Sam Fender's first record had some promising numbers on it, but it reeked of label interference. It steered towards easily marketable pop-rock. Fender might have been destined for the same fate as James Bay: a wildly fast assent to stardom, followed by a slow fade into obscurity.

Fortunately, that doesn't look like his trajectory. The lyrics on his follow up are far more visceral, personal and ambitious. If there's one emotion that keeps cropping up, it's rage. Whether Fender is coming to terms with the frustration he felt as a youth, or his despair at the state of the current social and political divisions, rage is the emotion used to fuel his work.

Fender leans into his North East accent with pride and the grit that was hinted at in his debut is fully realised. Aye, starts off as a reworking of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire; rather than listing the most significant moments of the last 100 years, Fender instead lists the most toxic aspect of society - its dark and it suits him down to a t. Seventeen Going Under explores the pivotal years of youth - years that almost saw him sink beneath their crushing pressure. The album's heartfelt ballad, Spit Of You - which hears Fender address his strained relationship with his father - has a huge amount of anger bubbling beneath the surface.

There's a fire in this kid, and when he channels it into his music, the results are mesmerising.