Sam Fender has announced an upcoming collaboration with Sir Elton John on a new song, ‘Talk To You’.
- READ MORE: Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’ review: reflective and perceptive indie rock from North Shields’ shining star
The singer-songwriter shared the news on social media this afternoon (October 13), revealing that the song will be out on Friday (October 17) and feature the “legend” on piano. He also shared the single artwork, which features a black and white photo of two young girls.
John responded on his Instagram story, sharing the post and writing, “Incredibly excited for this,” alongside a black heart emoji.
The pair have previously performed together and spoken highly of each other, and Fender’s announcement comes after he teased a collaboration with his “good friend playing piano” on Instagram yesterday.
Fender has included the song on his recent setlists, giving it a live debut during his show in Boston on September 17 and playing it another eight times, most recently in Toronto on October 3.
The singer-songwriter first teased the collaboration last week, with an advert that also seemingly confirmed the news of a deluxe edition of ‘People Watching’, his latest album. The largest part of the advert’s text read, “Track 02. Talk To You (ft.)” before an obscured name, leading people to question who the featured artist could be.
There are also currently two countdowns on Fender’s website – one appears to be counting down to the release of ‘Talk To You’, and fans have speculated that the other could be counting down until the deluxe edition of the album is released.
OMG FT WHOOOOOO!!!!! PLEASE NEED TO KNOW pic.twitter.com/Xk3ht9Tgg6
— Sam Fender Daily (@dailyfender) October 8, 2025
NME gave ‘People Watching’ a four-star review upon its release in February, writing, “Feeling existential, uprooted and disconnected from his old working-class life thanks to his rapid rise to fame, the British guitar hero channels it all into his gorgeous third album.”
The review finished: “Reflective, analytical and vulnerable, ‘People Watching’ does exactly what the title may suggest: takes stock of the characters, friends and loved ones who have made Fender the person he is today. He approaches each track with sensitivity as he looks back on his life so far – perhaps even with an inkling of guilt – and contemplates who he may be next.”
‘People Watching’, which earned the biggest opening week in the UK for a British act since Harry Styles with ‘Harry House’ in 2021, is up for this year’s Mercury Prize. Fender will find out if the album wins on Thursday (October 16).
He’ll be performing at the ceremony, which is taking place in his hometown of Newcastle. He’s up against artists including CMAT, Fontaines D.C., Pa Salieu, PinkPantheress, Pulp and Wolf Alice.
Next month, Fender is heading to Australia to continue his ‘People Watching’ tour.
