Sam Fender's People Watching proves he's the bravest voice of his generation
People Watching is the 30-year-old North Shields songsmith's third album, and it picks up where the previous two left off: which is to say, approximately around 1978, roaring out of the darkness at the edge of town in a beaten up Ford Escort. Fender's oeuvre marries classic heartlands American rock to parochially British kitchen sink drama in a landscape of crumbling gasworks, nationalised railways and failing care homes. 'The cold permeates the neonatal baby,' he rages on Chin Up. 'Can't heat the place for f--king love nor money.'
The fact that this album is almost certainly bound to hit number one in the UK charts is astonishing. Harmonicas wail, saxophones blow, distorted guitars chug and bass and drums power along in a style that owes nothing to 21st century digital pop production, drawing heavily (perhaps a little too slavishly) on Bruce Springsteen, crossed with the dense wall of sound of American indie band The War On Drugs. Whilst production trends favour the kind of lean digital beats and bass that won't stress out a pair of earbuds, Fender and his band (the same loyal unit who have been backing him since 2017) charge through their songs as if on a mission to demolish studio speakers.
We live in challenging times, but you wouldn't know it from the pop charts, where at best you can hope to hear tartly witty lyrics about dating, with perhaps a side order of sensitivity to issues of mental health. But even Fender's relationship songs take place in a demolished landscape, where memories of an old love 'ring like tinnitus' (Rein Me In) and casual sex is an escape ('Do you have to know me?' is the catchy refrain of Arm's Length).
Singing in his native Geordie accent, Fender keeps the personal at the centre of the political, with self-doubt permeating his acutely observed narratives of lives of quiet desperation. 'Am I up to this?' he challenges himself on TV Dinners, a song that reshapes the rhyming scheme and melody of Bob Dylan's masterpiece It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) into a moody monologue about escapism. 'They reared me as a class clown / Grass fed little cash cow / I cashed out, headed hell bound…'
It is one of a handful of exceptional songs that raise this album above Fender's base level tendency towards passionate but undistinguished rocking. The most exquisite is the clipped guitar and synth mesh of the downbeat Crumbling Empire, that brushes against Springsteen's Philadelphia with hints of Don Henley's The Boys of Summer in a song about returning to the ruined scenes of his misspent youth. 'I'm not preaching, I'm just talking,' Fender insists. 'I don't wear the shoes I used to walk in / But I can't help thinking where they'd take me / In this crumbling empire.'
The amazing fact is, those shoes have taken him to the top of the charts. It would be nice if a few more songwriters of his generation showed such courage and conviction. NMC
Tate McRae, So Close to What ★★★★☆
Tate McRae has come a long way since the release of her sophomore album, Think Later. The 21-year-old Canadian singer has spent the last year and a half whirling and twirling across award-show stages, performing hit songs including Greedy and Exes.
Back in 2023 you could be forgiven for having had little exposure to Tate and her music, but in 2025 that is no longer the case – she is everywhere. So much so that the TikTok sensation was mentioned by fellow Canadian artist Drake on his latest track Small Town Fame: 'B—h I feel like Tate McRae'.
On her latest album, So Close to What, it seems that the bubble-gum pop diva is here to stay. Produced once again by pop mastermind Ryan Tedder (who has worked with Taylor Swift, Adele and Beyoncé), McRae floats further away from the sugary ballads of her first two records to fully embrace an early Noughties pop-princess persona.
Its lead single, Sports Car, feels like an ode to the peak Pussycat Dolls era of sweaty, sexy club tracks built on intoxicating beats. McRae oozes confidence as she whispers 'I think you know what this is / I think you wanna uh / No, you ain't got no Mrs / Oh, but you got a sports car.' What's clear is that as McRae becomes more comfortable in her artistry, her lyrics become bolder and more scandalous.
The record features disco jams and R&B beats that could easily pass as Britney Spears hand-me-downs. It wouldn't be the first time Britney comparisons have been drawn. Blood on My Hands, featuring rapper Flo Milli, is an addictive hyper-feminine, ultra-pop dance number. 'I'm pretty and worth it / My feelings ain't hurtin' / Won't stay if it ain't working,' Milli coos assertively during her verse.
Can the album become slightly repetitive at times? Yes – but McRae has cleverly spotted a gap in the market for flirty, frivolous pop. That's not to say So Close to What doesn't have glimpses of complexity. Stand-out single Purple Laced Bra details the frustration of being seen merely as a sexual object: 'You only listen when I'm undressed'. Similarly, on the guitar-led closer Nostalgia, McRae's bluntly leans into her raw, unfiltered emotions. 'I manifested you would leave / So the day you did I had you beat / Three steps ahead of everything,' she admits.
Pop music has become saturated with soft, emotional ballads (the songs of Billie Eilish and Gracie Abrams spring to mind). McRae offers a welcome change – if you want tunes packed with snappy, catchy choruses and racy lyrics that make you feel powerful and sexy, then look no further. So Close to What is undeniably her strongest album so far, and with more than 11.6 billion total streams, over 40 million monthly Spotify listeners, and an upcoming sold-out UK tour, she is claiming her top spot in the pop-girl world. Nicole Collins
Best New Songs
by Poppie Platt
Ashaine White, Long Way Down
The rising star's wide array of influences – from fiery Nineties grunge to classic soul – meld perfectly on this infectiously angry new track, which details the emotional turmoil of realising your loved ones don't actually have your best interests at heart.
Blondshell, Two Times
Another tender treat from the LA-based indie-rock singer Blondshell (real name Sabrina Teitelbaum), whose witty and wise 2023 debut album was one of my favourite records of that year. Two Times is a suitably unconventional love song, setting lyrics about tempestuous relationships ('How bad does it have to hurt to count / Does it have to hurt at all?') against stripped-back acoustics.
Fontaines D.C., It's Amazing To Be Young
The Irish band's fourth record, Romance, was the best album of last year – inventive, ambitious, and kicking off a new level of commercial success for a band who have really, really put the work in. Now Grian Chatten and co. are back with another singalong-worthy corker, penned in honour of guitarist Carlos O'Connell's new baby. Make sure you watch the video – directed by Bafta-winner Luna Carmoon and starring House of the Dragon's Ewan Mitchell – too.
Selena Gomez (featuring Benny Blanco and Gracie Abrams), Call Me When You Break Up
Gomez takes a break from the doomed Emilia Pérez pre-Oscars press run to announce her return to pop, recruiting fiancé Benny Blanco and indie-pop star Gracie Abrams for a sweet, catchy track about getting your heart broken – then getting over it – that is almost certainly designed to soundtrack Gen Z's wistful TikTok videos for the next month.
Soft Serve, Cloda
There's a hint of the funk-rock of War and Cymande to this new track from rising Nottingham indie band Soft Serve, in which plucky strings and an infectious, rhythmic drum pedal power up an old-school tale of young love.
Sleigh Bells, Bunky Pop
Back with new music for the first time in four years, the NYC noise-pop duo's – made up of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller – new track is a deafening, wonderfully silly slice of release from the world's unrelenting doom and gloom. Imagine Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl or Charli XCX's Apple, only coupled with Nirvana's guitars.
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The Sun
a few seconds ago
- The Sun
Who is Amanda Knox and was she found guilty in Meredith Kercher murder slander case?
AMANDA Knox is part of a new documentary about her wrongful conviction releasing on Disney+. 4 Who is Amanda Knox? Amanda Knox is an American author and journalist, best known for being wrongly convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007. Knox was attending the University for Foreigners in Perugia on an exchange year from the University of Washington. While there, she started dating Raffaele Sollecito, a 23-year-old Italian student, and worked in a bar. But on November 2, 2007, Amanda's life changed forever. Knox arrived at her home, later telling police that she noticed that the front door was open and there was dried blood in the bathroom. After calling the police, the body of roommate Meredith was found inside her locked bedroom. Knox and then-boyfriend Sollecito were convicted of stabbing 21-year-old Kercher to death at a flat in Perugia, Italy, in 2007. In 2009, the pair were jailed, with Know receiving a 26 year sentence, and Sollecito receiving 25 years. Knox and Sollecito were acquitted of murder on March 27, 2015, by the Italian supreme court. Judges said that there were a litany of errors regarding the case, including a stark lack of evidence to suggest that either Knox or Sollecito were involved. After her experience, she said that people had flocked to apologise to her – even stopping her in the street to say sorry for jumping to conclusions about her. Knox recently spoke to a panel of lawyers and discussed the effect the case had on her family and how the case came to define her; and featured in a Netflix documentary about her experiences. She married poet and author Christopher Robinson in 2018. In 2021, Knox and Robinson welcomed their first child together. The baby was named Eureka Know Robinson. She took to Instagram to share her news. Since my exoneration, I've struggled to reclaim my identity and protect the people I love from being exploited as tabloid content. It's not easy, and I often feel like I'm trying to invent good choices out of bad whole cloth. I know that I cannot 100% protect my daughter from the kind of treatment I've suffered, but I'm doing the best I can. Which is why this will be the only picture of her I will ever share on social media. I'm so grateful to everyone who has wished @emceecarbon and I well on our journey to parenthood. Thank you for believing in us.' Amanda Knox on Instagram Knox believes that she has had to carry the burden for the murder of Kercher, saying that her real killer, Rudy Guede, is almost forgotten due to the high media presence surrounding the case. In 2024, Knox was back in court in Italy. She was re-convicted of a charge related to the brutal 2007 killing of Meredith Kercher. On June 5th, I will walk into the very same courtroom where I was reconvicted of a crime I didn't commit, this time to defend myself yet again. I hope to clear my name once and for all of the false charges against me. Wish me luck.' Amanda Knox Knox was found guilty of slander for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba, a Congolese bar owner, of killing Kercher. Lumumba was held for two weeks in 2007 before he was freed without charge. But despite being sentenced to three years in jail, the mum-of-two will not serve any more jail time, as the three years count as time already served. Who was Meredith Kercher? Meredith Kercher was born in Southwark, South London on 28 December, 1985. She lived in Coulsdon, a town within the London borough of Croydon. The 21-year-old was last seen on November 1 of that year, with her body found in a pool of blood in her bedroom the next day. An autopsy conducted on her body found that her throat had been cut and she had been stabbed almost 50 times. It also found that she had 16 bruises, including on her nose and mouth, as well as suffering injuries related to sexual assault. In 2007, fingerprints were identified at the scene as belonging to Rudy Guede, who was ultimately charged and sentenced for the brutal murder. He was granted early release in November 2021. The case attracted global media interest, with Knox at the centre. Did Amanda Knox get any compensation? Knox was awarded a £16,000 payout after winning a European Human Rights Court case against the Italian government on January 24, 2019. At the Court, she said Italian police had infringed her rights by failing to provide her with a lawyer, an interpreter, and not following proper procedure. She also insisted she had been slapped by cops during questioning but judges ruled there was no proof of that. They wrote: 'There was insufficient evidence to conclude that Ms Knox had actually sustained the inhuman or degrading treatment of which she had complained.' Within minutes of the decision, Knox, who now lives in Seattle, issued a statement again insisting she was hit. She said: 'I was interrogated for 53 hours over five days, without a lawyer, in a language I understood maybe as well as a ten-year-old. 'When I told police I had no idea who had killed Meredith I was slapped in the back of the head and told to 'Remember.'' Sources in Italy said Knox had been looking for £1.7m compensation but the ECHR gave her £9,000 damages and £6,900 towards costs. There was no immediate response from the Italian government, which has three months to reply. What happened to Raffaele Sollecito? Raffaele Sollecito was cleared of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher after spending nearly four years in jail. The Italian man has since said that the convictions ruined his life, demanding £400,000 to cover legal costs that he incurred while trying to clear his name. 4 This bid was rejected in 2017, on the grounds that Sollecito made 'contradictory or even frankly untrue' statements in the early stages of the investigation, which equated to 'intent or gross negligence.' He said: 'There were many victims in this case. Amanda [Knox] 's parents, my parents, all our families… there are many others made by the prosecution's mistakes.' He then added that people did not understand why he had been acquitted, saying: 'I have to face this kind of society. I have to face anybody that doesn't support me.' Sollecito now works as a computer engineer in Milan. , a town they were planning to visit before being arrested for Kercher's murder. What happened to Rudy Guede? Rudy Guede was born December 26, 1986, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He was convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Meredith Kercher in October 2008, and sentenced to 30 years behind bars. However, this was reduced to 16 years. 4 Guede was released from prison on November 24, 2021 after having served 13 years of his sentence. He was allowed out 45 days early for good behaviour. What's in the Disney+ documentary? A new documentary illustrating the story of Amanda Knox has been released by Disney Plus, with the first two episodes premiering on August 20. The TV show will be eight episodes long, with new instalments arriving every Wednesday until concluding on October 1. 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' depicts Amanda's 15-year fight to clear her name, focusing on the investigation, courtroom twists, and shocking narratives- inspired by Amanda Knox's real life story. Amanda Knox executively produced the limited series herself, giving a real understanding to her own characters emotional struggle and mental state throughout the series. How to watch the Amanda Knox documentary The Amanda Knox documentary is available to watch on streaming platform Disney+ for UK and Hulu for US subscribers. Grace Van Patten stars as Amanda Knox in the programme, which is billed as a fascinating blend of media bias and of courage, hope, and forgiveness. UK viewers can sign up to watch Disney+ on smart devices or through the TV.
Daily Mirror
a few seconds ago
- Daily Mirror
American moves to the UK and learns new meaning of words 'quite good'
A woman from California who moved to London has shared some of the biggest culture shocks she experienced about life in the UK, including what people actually mean when they say certain phrases The UK is home to people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and it also attracts expats. Moving to a new country is likely to bring some culture shocks that might take time to get used to, from the food to the social norms to the customs. Andrea Celeste is an American woman who now lives in London and uses her TikTok page to share differences she has noticed and personally experienced herself between the US and the UK. Although the US and UK are known to have a 'special relationship', there are some major ways that the two countries differ. In a recent TikTok video, Andrea shared her biggest culture shocks as someone from California living in England – including what people really mean when they say 'quite good'. So here's what she had to say... 1. 'British understatement' Andrea said one adjustment when she moved to the UK was learning to interpret what she calls 'British understatement.' She explained: 'If something is described as 'quite good' it usually means it's amazing. If someone says they're 'a bit concerned', they may actually be panicking.' In contrast, the Californian thinks people in the US are more direct and will simply just say what they mean unless they're being sarcastic. 2. Friendships are formed in different ways Andrea stated: 'One of the biggest culture shocks I experienced as a Californian living in England was the difference in how friendships are built. 'In California people are incredibly kind and open-hearted so friendships often form quickly and feel instantly warm but sometimes they end up staying a bit surface level.' However, she has noticed that people in England can keep to themselves a bit more at first so it ends up being 'a bit more of a slow burn to a deep and meaningful friendship". 3. Differences in talking about your achievements The expat shared that it isn't uncommon for Americans to be openly proud about their achievements, which is shown by the 'American dream mindset' or celebrating graduations with graduation photos and having your degree framed. On the flip side, Andrea has observed that people in England 'can be very talented but don't really promote it". What's more, being open about your accomplishments isn't as common in the UK as in the US. She remarked: 'I sometimes find it refreshing but I think there is probably a happy medium.' In the caption of her TikTok video, Andrea joked she was "learning to decode the British language (even though it's also English).' The post has amassed dozens of comments and several viewers agreed with Andrea's points. One said: 'I really appreciate how great your insight is!' Another added: 'Agree 10000% with all of this!!! As a kiwi living in the US! Exactly how I felt.' A third user simply commented: 'You nailed this.' However, there was also a bit of disagreement as a British viewer chimed in: 'I'm not sure that it's understatement, I think we're just a lot less dramatic than the average American.'
Daily Mirror
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Two Hollywood A-listers join Rivals cast for second series
Hayley Atwell and Rupert Everett join the cast as Emily Atack says she loved playing sexy Sarah Stratton: 'I am her. I'm a flawed woman' When the adaptation of Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster Rivals hit screens last year, it quickly became Disney's best performing TV drama. Now Rupert Everett and Hayley Attwell are to join the cast for the much-anticipated second series, playing lead character Rupert Campbell Black's former showjumping boss and his bitter ex-wife - who are now married to each other. Atwell, best known for her roles in the Marvel and Mission Impossible films, will be playing Helen Gordon, mother of Rupert's two children, Marcus and Tabitha - who will also appear this time around. Everett, who starred alongside Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding, takes on the role of her husband Malise Gordon, Campbell Black's former show-jumping coach and mentor. In Cooper's original story Helen was treated badly by her ex-husband and remains very bitter towards him after their divorce. She is now married to the former chef d'équipe of the British showjumping team, Malise. Speaking in a session at the Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday where the castings were announced, Emily Atack joked that her character Sarah Stratton, the regularly unfaithful wife of an MP, had not been much of a stretch. 'I had to dig real deep,' she quipped. But the actress, who found fame with hit series The Inbetweeners, said she had no qualms about playing a flawed temptress.. 'I've been typecast my whole life and I've loved every minute," she declared. " I'll carry on playing these sexy women for as long as I can.' Emily said that shooting the infamous naked tennis scene alongside Alex Hassell as Rupert had been great fun. Alex said that many discussions had taken place over whether or not he should wear a prosthetic over his privates for the scene, but in the end he'd decided to go without. Emily declared that she had had a bit of help for that particular scene. 'I had a stick on muff," she laughed. "A murkin, it's called. A proper 80s bush - I felt like I had furry knickers on. It's so jarring seeing yourself like that.' But the actress said she'd soon got used to it. 'I didn't want to put my clothes back on! I did a couple of cartwheels.' Emily, 35, said part of the appeal of playing Sarah, was that while she is flawed, she also also has vulnerabilities that were recognised. 'These types of women are never written with nuance,' she said. 'I am her, I am a flawed woman, I've made terrible decisions in my love life - so I wasn't scared to identify with her. Her bad behaviour isn't being celebrated, but it's being understood.' Bella McClean, whose character Taggie O'Hara found love with Rupert in the final episode of series one, revealed she was so pleased with her audition as Taggie - and chemistry with Alex - that she walked straight into a wall afterwards. The actress she had enjoyed playing a character who was so wholesome and good, it had made her take a look at her own life and decisions. She loved the long, simmering build-up to the romance between Taggie and Rupert, saying: 'They see though all the crap and just adore each other for who they are,' she explained. 'It's about their love.' The show's creator Dominic Treadwell-Collins said that Jilly Cooper had told him early on how she expected the male heroes of her 1980s books to behave. He said: 'She told me 'my men don't cry'. My men are macho.' Dominic added: 'We are utterly thrilled to have Hayley and Rupert join us to play Jilly Cooper's legendary characters Helen and Malise Gordon. Alongside our other new wonderful actors and truly brilliant returning cast, Rivals series two absolutely showcases the best of British and Irish talent. We can't wait for everyone to see what's next for the residents of Rutshire.' Disney boss Lee Mason said he was also thrilled that Everett and Atwell were joining the cast. 'They are a perfect match for the world of Rutshire, so lovingly created by Dame Jilly and the team at Happy Prince.' Rivals is filming in the UK until February and is expected to return, for an extended season of twelve episodes, later in 2026. Set against the backdrop of the Cotswolds countryside and the glamorous, high-stakes world of 1980s British television, the second run will see the return of the all-star cast including Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson, Aidan Turner and David Tennant. Next time around viewers will find that many careers, marriages and reputations hang in the balance as personal and professional lives collide in a world where secrets can't stay hidden for long.
