Lily Holbrook
Opening with a racing baseline that’s striking and sombre in equal measures, Wild Grey Ocean is the latest single from North Shields sensation Sam Fender. Setting foot on a stormy trip through the waves of his past, the song tells the true story of Fender’s struggles with friendship, family and the ghosts of a life far removed from the public eye.
My first wavy experience of this song came over a year ago at Newcastle’s This Is Tomorrow Festival. Blurred through visions of wine and a September darkness that descended over the headline act, Exhibition Park was alive that night.
Hearing a song with “ocean” in the title felt like a parting gift: one that would round off almost 4 years of living in the North East.
Stormy Origins
Forever distinctive in his subject matter, Fender is never one to shy away from the truth, and this song is no exception. Swapping seaside scenes for stardom and stage lights, the track is born from Fender’s own painful reflections on his former life.
Like all good storytellers, Fender needs startlingly few words to paint vivid images of his teenage years in North Tyneside. And like all good guitar solos of rock songs gone by, Johnny Blue Hat’s rippling saxophone outro sends shivers shimmering up the spine.
“reflective of the relentless demands of the working-class culture”
Building gradually as the song progresses. The track’s tempo is almost certainly reflective of the relentless demands of working-class culture. Captured by the lyrics: ‘The coast town muscles through weekdays and nine to fives / I finish work and compartmentalise,” highlight a time of intense hardship. A sentiment that couldn’t be more timely in our current cost of living crisis.
A Sinking Former Life
“unpredictable in its sonic arrangement”
Both powerful and unpredictable in its sonic arrangement, the track effortlessly emulates the wild grey ocean it depicts.
Viewed metaphorically, Fender carefully takes the oceanic landscape that has held a constant in his life and translates it into something much more profound. The wonder and unknown of its depths are juxtaposed with the realities of clinging to a sinking former life.
Fortunate enough to be living in Newcastle just at the time Fender’s music was emerging in 2018, his soulful vocals and unmistakable instrumentals became a special soundtrack to the North East for me. After having the chance to make regular visits to the coast for my marine zoology degree, I instantly held the title of this track close to my heart.
Delving into the Depths
Dealing with topics often too tough to discuss, many of Fender’s tracks bear a sadness that elicits an overwhelming nostalgia. Woven through his tales of hardship comes a sense of pathos that is hard to detach from my own experiences of loving and leaving Newcastle, a city charmed by happy memories that, painfully, can never be relived.
You can listen to Wild Grey Ocean on Spotify here. The track will feature on Fender’s upcoming ‘Seventeen Going Under Live Deluxe’ record, out on the 9th of December.
Featured image courtesy of Laurenz Kleinheider on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lily Holbrook
Lily is passionate about combining her environmental values with her love of music, the natural world and culture.