Hypersonic Missiles

Pitchfork 6.1/10 Though the upstart British songwriter is a capable storyteller when he zeroes on a single topic, his debut is only intermittently transcendent.

The Line of Best Fit 8/10 Rising singer-songwriter blends political awareness with guitar-fuelled, feel-good indie on impressive debut

NME 4/5 The Geordie Springsteen's debut excels at documenting small-town frustration, which is why he means so much to so many people

Evening Standard 4/5 The idea that a guitar could be your ticket away from a small grey town has held for decades in music, from Bruce Springsteen’s tramps who were Born to Run, to Rock ’n’ Roll Star by Oasis (a dream, not a reality, when it was written) all the way to Jake Bugg’s Two Fingers.

The Independent 4/5 There are sax solos (more than one), and pounding rhythms that make you want to jump in a car and drive down a highway at sunset

The Skinny 4/5 Although Sam Fender leans a little too heavily on his influences at times, Hypersonic Missiles is everything a debut should be.

Clash 8/10 Sam Fender is a natural storyteller. It’s as simple as that. He uses his observational lyrics to tell the stories in his songs. Fender has had a

The Guardian 4/5 The North Shields singer-songwriter may look cookie-cutter but his gritty, gloriously anthemic songs on toxic masculinity, violence and death are anything but

The Telegraph 4/5 The “hypersonic missiles” in the title song of Sam Fender’s terrific debut refer to a weapon that may wipe out mankind, but the phrase serves equally well as a metaphor for Fender’s oeuvre, where every song bristles with explosive ideas.