Sam Fender has released a new song with Elton John entitled Talk to You, the day after winning the 2025 Mercury prize for his album People Watching.
It features a twinkling piano line laid out by John, amid Fender’s full-bodied guitar-led songwriting. Fender sings on the chorus “Just wanna talk to you / Wanna talk with my best friend / Wanna let go of everything that I carry”, and has said the song is 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?”
John added: “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.”
Fender is riding high as one of the UK’s most successful singer-songwriters. His third album People Watching topped the UK album chart, just as his previous two had, and two of its songs – the title track and Rein Me In, a duet with Olivia Dean – have reached the Top 10. He played stadium dates in London and Newcastle over the summer.
He won the Mercury prize at a ceremony in Newcastle on Thursday, beating competition from the likes of Pulp, CMAT and Fontaines DC. The judges praised People Watching’s “cohesion, character and ambition”, calling it: “melody-rich and expansive, marrying heartland rock with the realities of everyday life and the importance of community. These are thoughtful songs with broad appeal, as cinematic as they are intimate.”
Fender dedicated the award to the late actor Annie Orwin, a close friend who is the subject of the album’s title track. He won a £25,000 cash prize.
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