Sam Fender has revealed that he wants to get straight into working on his next album and that he hopes to head stateside to lay the tracks down.

The singer-songwriter was speaking to NME after his second album, ‘Seventeen Going Under‘, was crowned Album Of The Year 2021 when he said that he will only take a small amount of time off at Christmas before going back into the studio.

He explained that writing and recording music in itself is “chill time” for himself and his band, so once he’s had a bit of festive fun he’ll get back to the studio in the new year.

“Honestly, I love it! Also, it’s better for my health,” he said of returning to the writing process. “If I don’t do that and I just go back to [North] Shields [his hometown], then you just sit in the pub with your mates for weeks. By the end of it you’re just a big, fat, drunk mess. I’m going to do a little bit of that for Christmas, but I might have to bail out for New Year so I can get myself in the studio and focus on something.”

He added that while he has “a few bits and bobs left” including some promo to do before Christmas rolls round, he’ll soon want to get his writing head back in the game.

“I’ve got a few bits and bobs left, yeah,” he told NME. “A few shows and some promo stuff, but we’re almost there. Then when I say I’m going to take some time out, I’m going to sit in a studio. That’s time out for us, because I find it really cathartic and peaceful. It’s a good place for us to chill, you know?”

Fender, whose song ‘Seventeen Going Under‘ also landed at Number Four in NME‘s 50 Best Songs Of The Year, added that he now feels ready to move away from North Shields for the first time in his life.

“I’ve lived in Shields for 27 years. I’ve never lived anywhere else. I’m going to move away for a bit, just because I think I need to. I need a bit of time away,” he said.

“I love home; I absolutely adore it. I’ll always have my place there and I’ll always come back, but it’s quite hard to sit in the pub when you’ve got to do like 30 selfies. I can’t even chat to my mates. I’m sat there with a pint while trying to keep people happy with selfies. I think I need a bit of quiet time from that to think again.”

A move away from home is likely to coincide with his hopes of recording some of his next album in New York.

“I think I’ll do a little bit of time down here in London,” he continued, “just because Fontaines DC, Declan McKenna and loads of my mates are down here. I’d just like to bounce off loads of my pals down here; and just spend some time in the studios.

“Also, we might go record the third record in the States – potentially New York. We were actually going to go and make the second album in [Jimi Hendrix’s famed studio] Electric Lady, but thank God we didn’t because I wouldn’t have written the album that I did.”

Fender added: “I’m not thanking the pandemic, but if it wasn’t for that time stuck in my house at home, doing therapy and talking about my past while walking through the streets that reminded me of my past, I wouldn’t have written the album that’s just got me the top album in NME!”

In other news, Fender today announced details of a London gig at Finsbury Park for summer 2022 with support from Fontaines D.C., Declan McKenna, Beabadoobee and Goat Girl.