North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender is up for a trilogy of Brit Awards at the annual celebration, which is taking place at London's O2 Arena.
The 'Northern poet' will be hoping to bring glory back to his beloved region tonight, in a ceremony which will also see him take to the stage to perform for viewers around the world - alongside huge names in the industry alike Adele and Liam Gallagher.
Fender, who received the Critics' Choice Award at the very same occasion in 2019, now finds himself in the running for a coveted Best Artist Award as well as being shortlisted for the Best Rock/Alternative Act of the year along with Coldplay and Tom Grennan.
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His UK Number One LP 'Seventeen Going Under' which shifted over 44,000 copies in it's launch week is also up for the coveted Album of the Year trophy, where he hopes to best like likes of Ed Sheeran to take home the award.
And the album released in October last year has already found massive success, both being named as NME's Album of the Year and achieving Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry, for exceeding more than 100,000 sales in December last year.
The Album itself is beautifully littered with quirky lines centred around the North East and Sam's coming of age in the area itself, and is so well composed that his old sixth form, Whitley Bay High School, are using his music within their Key Stage Three English curriculum to educate students on the language.
With Fender's latest LP up for a prestigious Brit Award, we thought we would take a look at some of the lyrics from songs on the album - identifying the hardest hitting ones closest to the North East, and revealing what we think they mean with regards to the local area.
Seventeen Going Under -
Both the title of the entire album as well as the opening track on the record, Sam Fender's Seventeen Going Under sets the tone for the coming of age record which encapsulates the singer-songwriter's experiences with his home town of North Shields.
"Cold Septembers, the distances we covered. The fist fights on the beach, the bizzies round us up, do it all again next week."
In this line, Sam is looking back to growing up in the North East - an area heavily affected by poverty and with not a great deal for youngsters to do.
So here, Sam reflects on how he and his friends used to go for walks and get up to no good, as teens often do - before the police would round them up and move them on, only to do the exact same things the next week.
Getting Started -
"I came home and you were on the floor, floored by the letters and the council rigmarole. What I wouldn't do to get you out this hole."
Again, Sam is reflecting on the poverty of the area with these lines - and how he would do anything to help his mother Shirley live a better life.
Shirley Fender worked as a nurse during her career for the better part of 40 years according to sources, but reportedly had to had to retire due to fibromyalgia leaving her and Sam strapped for cash.
Sam is also reported to have considered becoming a drug dealer aged just 17, when his family were on rock bottom, but his mother is said to have talked him out of the ordeal. A budding career in music shortly afterwards offered him a way out of the dark.
The Leveller -
"Scurry around my town silent for miles, with a cancer in my blood and a ringing in my ear. And the fear is the closest thing to fun that I have."
Once again, we believe that Sam is referring to having nothing to do in his local area growing up - leaving him to roam the quiet roads of North Shields in anxiety out of boredom. It also indicates a depressing atmosphere across the town, which had no fun to offer him when he was growing up.
The Dying Light -
"This town is a world of waifs and strays, comedy giants, penniless heroes, dead men at the bar, I've drank with them all through misadventure and drag."
In the closing song of his LP Sam is referring to North Shields and how it seems to be a trap for those who reluctantly avoid success - a dead end per say.
Sam sings of the characters he has met in the town over the years, however his line shows a hint of camaraderie than nobody is alone in their struggles - mentioning that he's 'drank will them all'.
What do you make of Sam's sobering lyrics regarding the region?
The Brits are live from 8pm this evening, and can be watched exclusively on ITV or the ITV Hub.
