Sam Fender and Elton John team up for deluxe edition of Mercury Prize-winning album
The friends have collaborated on new single, Talk To You is among new tracks added to a new edition of Sam's third album
Fresh (or maybe still slightly tiddly) from a triumphant night at the Mercury Prize in Newcastle on Thursday, Sam Fender has announced the release of a deluxe edition of his People Watching album.
The deluxe edition version of the North Shields singer-songwriter’s Mercury Prize-winning third album will hit the shelves and/or streaming services on December 5.
The new release features eight additional tracks on CD and vinyl, including three new songs — Talk To You (feat. Elton John), Fortuna’s Wheel and The Treadmill — alongside four from Fender’s limited-edition Me and The Dog Record Store Day EP, and Rein Me In (with Olivia Dean), available on formats you can hold in your hand for the first time.
To coincide with the announcement, Talk To You has been released as a single. The collaboration features the unmistakable sounds of Elton on piano (as well as a namecheck for the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields) and was recorded at British Grove Studios in London during the original People Watching sessions with producer Marcus Dravs.
Sam says: “It’s a song about the end of a long relationship - about the regret, the mistakes and the lessons that come with it. It’s that feeling of losing your best friend, and coming to terms with that.
“I was playing around with the riff and thought what I need is a really good pianist and then hmmm, I wonder who I can call? And of course, who better than Elton John.”
Elton says: “Sam was writing and recording in a studio in West London, and called to say he’d written a song with a piano riff that he thought would sound great with me playing it.
“I couldn’t resist, and it was so much fun playing it for him. I truly love Sam. He’s been a friend for many, many years and it’s incredible to see him grow into being a truly world class artist.”
The deluxe edition of People Watching can be pre-ordered here.