Sam Fender crafts the kind of tenacious anthemic rock that punches straight at the gut. Born and raised in 1994 in the northeastern English town of North Shields, the singer/songwriter first picked up a guitar at age 10 and began playing gigs locally as a teen to help support him and his mother. But it wasn’t until he started writing music for himself—rather than what he thought others wanted to hear—that everything started to click. That’s when he wrote his 2017 debut single, “Play God,” a propulsive, politically charged slice of indie rock. It came from a place of deep desperation, “a time where I was like, ‘I need to prove myself. I need to do something that cuts through,’” he told Apple Music. The track earned him a slot on BBC’s Sound of 2018 shortlist, which led to a deal with Polydor Records and the release of his acclaimed 2019 debut, Hypersonic Missiles, an album that channels modern-day anxiety through heartfelt heartland rock. His 2021 follow-up, Seventeen Going Under, hit even harder, pumped full of soaring arrangements and bold statements that continue to prove Fender’s power as a mighty millennial voice for the working class.