Freya Ridings emerged to be the surprise success story of 2018 with her breakthrough platinum-selling hit ‘Lost Without You’. A once-in-a-lifetime song that immediately put Freya on the map, it hit the Top 10 on seven separate occasions during a six-month run in the Top 40 and is now approaching 200 million streams.
Now Freya Ridings looks set to cement that phenomenal start to her career with the release of new single ‘Castles’ and her self-titled debut album, which will be released on July 19th on GOOD SOLDIER via AWAL Recordings. It demonstrates precisely why she became the new star on everyone’s lips, from Taylor Swift to Florence Welch and Richard Quinn.
“I’m incredibly grateful that people come to my shows and are enthusiastic about the songs,” says Freya. “I feel really humbled when people say that my music helped them in some way. I’ve made an album that I’m really proud of, but I’m determined to keep working hard. I’m certainly not going to rest on my laurels.”
The album as a whole explores themes of doubt, pain, regret and vulnerability within songs of alchemical incandescence. Freya’s extraordinary, vibrato-rich voice elevates them into her greatness – a vocal gift that’s undoubtedly one of the most powerful voices of her generation.
Previous singles ‘Lost Without You’, ‘You Mean The World To Me’, ‘Blackout’ and new single ‘Castles’ feature on the album, but there’s a wealth of other striking material to investigate. Her take on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ classic ‘Maps’ finds the beauty and tenderness in the raw power of the original. Elsewhere, the fully realised new recordings of tracks such as ‘Poison’ and ‘Elephant’ take on a new life, having previously featured on her early limited edition live albums. Brand new material shines through too, notably on a live-favourite ‘Holy Water’ and ‘Still Have You’.
Aside from ‘Maps’, Freya wrote all of the eleven songs that feature on the album which underpins her world class credentials as a songwriter. In an era in which hits are inevitably written by committee, ‘Lost Without You’ saw Freya become the first female artist to have an entirely self-written Top 10 hit since Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ returned to the charts in 2012.
The album features contributions from two multiple Grammy Award winners in the shape of producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia, Liam Gallagher), mixer Tom Elmhirst (Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, David Bowie) and Serban Ghenea (Ariana Grande, Halsey, One Republic). Further producers that feature on the album are Mark Crew (Bastille, Rag N Bone Man), Dan Nigro (Lewis Capaldi, Charli XCX) and Jim E Stack (Vampire Weekend).
Freya also announced this week that she would be playing the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury on Saturday 29thJune. Freya is playing all the major summer festivals including Isle of Wight, Latitude, Wilderness, BBC Summer Social and the Electric Picnic in Ireland.
Album tracklisting:
1. ‘Poison’
2. ‘Lost Without You’
3. ‘Castles’
4. ‘You Mean The World To Me’
5. ‘Love Is Fire’
6. ‘Holy Water’
7. ‘Blackout’
8. ‘Ultraviolet’
9. ‘Still Have You’
10. ‘Maps’
11. ‘Elephant’
12. ‘Wishbone’
UK live dates:
June
14th Isle of Wight Festival
29th Glastonbury, John Peel Stage
July
19th Latitude Festival
August
3rd BBC Summer Social
4th Wilderness Festival
31st Electric Picnic, Ireland