BRITs Critic’s Choice winner Sam Fender delivers an excellent performance at sold-out Electric Brixton.

Ahead of the release of his much-anticipated debut album, 22-year old Sam Fender has already wrapped up his 2018 with a string of sold out shows and a Brit Awards Critic’s Choice win.

In a time where guitar-wielding male singer-songwriters continue to pop out of nowhere like daisies in the spring, Fender manages to stand out with a haunting voice delivering sincere lyrics that dance around, yet completely nail issues such as toxic masculinity and politics.

Expanding from his debut EP, Dead Boys, Fender led the set at Electric Brixton with early single Millennial, then teased the audience with previously unreleased songs such as When Will We Talk and Borders, before delivering crowd-pleaser and title track Dead Boys. It’s also no surprise that he later paid homage to his idol, Bruce Springsteen, with a heartfelt cover of Dancing in the Dark.

After a night charged with surges of indie rock, the room fell to silence for Fender’s closing song, a yet unnamed track that he wrote at the tender age of 16. It’s early days for Sam but he has effortlessly proved himself to be the one to watch, and we’re keeping both eyes (and ears) peeled.

Photos: Abigail Shii