SAM FENDER: Seventeen Going Under (Polydor)
Rating: 
Verdict: Heartland rock blockbuster
OH WONDER: 22 Break (Island)
Rating:
Verdict: Heartache album with a twist
The 'difficult second album' has sent plenty of young pop pretenders into a tailspin.
This year alone, the growing pains were all too apparent on patchy sequels from Rag'n'Bone Man and Anne-Marie — although Billie Eilish dodged the dreaded sophomore slump with flying colours on Happier Than Ever.
Sam Fender did pretty well the first time around. The boyish singer-songwriter from North Shields followed in the footsteps of Adele and Ellie Goulding by winning the Critics' Choice prize at the Brit Awards in 2019. He went on to top the UK charts the same year with his gritty debut album Hypersonic Missiles.
A little burnishing of his rougher musical edges was only to be expected on his second album, and the musician, 27, duly obliges by adding a more sophisticated sheen to his jangling rock 'n' roll on Seventeen Going Under. What stays intact, however, is his fist-pumping enthusiasm and ability to chronicle blue-collar life with his heart firmly on his sleeve.
Sam Fender did pretty well the first time around. The boyish singer-songwriter from North Shields followed in the footsteps of Adele and Ellie Goulding by winning the Critics' Choice prize at the Brit Awards in 2019
Growing up on a council estate as a fan of the Arctic Monkeys and Bruce Springsteen, Fender poured all the experiences of his teenage years into his first record, drawing on local tales and bravely tackling topics such as youth suicide.
Now a much bigger name, he could have resorted to singing of life on the road or the perils of fame. Instead, he turns the gaze on himself. 'I didn't want to write about Covid, because nobody wants to hear about that,' he explained. 'So I went inwards.'
The upshot is a Technicolor coming-of-age story on which he sings of family, friends, a misspent youth and his romantic failings. His fondness for everyday detail remains, but the music is generally celebratory.
Fender is often talked of as a Geordie Springsteen, and there are a few obvious ties that bind him to The Boss here: the gleaming sax break on Get You Down; a twinkling piano motif in the style of the E Street Band's Roy Bittan on The Dying Light. To these ears, though, Fender's arena-ready tunes are more of a throwback to the early years of U2.
The title track is a case in point, with Fender's account of 'fist fights on the beach' and a painful teenage heartbreak powered by chugging guitars and a rousing chorus.
Getting Started is another banger — a blend of heartland rock and electronics that chronicles his determination to stay on the right side of the tracks despite being 'attracted to a bad scene'.
Elsewhere, Aye lays bare his disillusionment with polarised politics, and Get You Down details how a lack of confidence has affected his relationships. 'I see the triggers, but I can't shake them loose,' he sings.
There's further romantic regret on piano ballad Last To Make It Home, and a soft-focus instrumental coda on the dreamy Mantra. It's not a flawless return. Electro-rock number The Leveller feels overwrought, and Fender's lyrics can be clunky (at one point, he's
