“Leave First” is an excellent study on provincial fear from Sam Fender

Sam Fender is by all accounts the modern Renaissance Man. Intelligent, handsome and not afraid to speak his mind, Fender has taken the UK by storm with his politically charged anthems that cover subjects ranging from government surveillance to crime & punishment.

His latest track “Leave First” stems from the fear of staying in your hometown forever. Hailing from a rough seaside town up North himself one can interpret “Leave First” as Fender’s alternative autobiography if music was not in his life. The simplicity of this idea matched with the stripped back arrangement lends itself to the track’s poignancy and power whilst demonstrating Fender’s skill at packaging his ideas in a succinct and accessible way.