Sam Fender has returned this week with a new cover of ‘Winter Song’ originally released by Alan Hull with his band Lindisfarne in the ’70s. Fender has kept the cover simple and tender with an electric guitar and his vocal, although he of course brings his own style to the classic folk track. As an indie-rock artist, there’s no mistaking his dark-toned emotive vocals.
The cover came out yesterday, Tuesday 24th November, and premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record, prefaced by two of his songs from debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’. He told Mac that ‘Winter Song’ is one of his favourites, and certainly his favourite Christmas song, describing Hull as a “local legend”.
On his Instagram, the singer posted, “I wanted to do a Christmas song, I wanted it to be close to my home and my heart. For me the words are more relevant this year than ever, Christmas won’t be the same for a lot of people this year, that’s why I picked this song. Alan truly was one of the most fantastic and underrated writers of his time, I hope I’ve done it justice, I’m really proud of it.”
Expanding on this, Fender said on the Radio 1 show that “The whole song’s sort of talking about other people’s strife – it’s a classic Christmas message of trying to be more empathetic of those who are worse off than you. I think it’s important for us as people living through this pandemic to appreciate what we do have.”
Sam Fender also discussed the high rates of homelessness currently and his collaboration with Big Issue and People of the Streets. The latter is an organisation who support homeless people sharing their own experiences, to be heard and supported by the community. Fender has created a lyric video for ‘Winter Song’ which raises awareness of the issue, which currently has 19,000 views. In the video, the photographs of homeless people are shared in a slideshow which has resonated with many fans.
