Fred again.. announces new album ‘Actual Life 3’ and releases first single
The latest record in the series is out on October 28
By Joe Goggins
Fred again.. has revealed details of his third album, and released the first single, which you can hear below.
The prolific Londoner will release the third instalment in his Actual Life series on October 28, via Atlantic. The first taste of the album has arrived in the form of ‘Danielle (smile on my face)’, on which he samples the a capella from 070 Shake’s ‘Nice to Have’, which is his most-listened to track of 2022 — and, accordingly, has soundtracked his ‘actual life’.
Per a press release, Actual Life 3 (January 1 — September 9 2022) is set to continue in the same vein as previous remarries in the series, interpolating into Fred again..’s music the likes of voice notes from friends, video clips found when scrolling through Instagram and, as with the first single, samples from records close to his heart, helping to paint a thoroughly modern portrait of the artist’s day-to-day.
The return to deeply personal territory also heralds a break with more recent form, with the producer having focused this year on dance-forward collaborative singles released through his ‘USB’ playlist series. Last month saw him notch up his highest-charting single to date when he hooked up with Swedish House Mafia and Future for ‘Turn on the Light again..’, while he also worked with Romy of The xx and HAAi in January on ‘Lights Out’, and put out ‘Admit It (U Don’t Want 2)’ with I. Jordan in March.
Profiled for Rolling Stone UK earlier this year, Fred again.., real name Fred Gibson, ruminated on the importance of collaboration to his music, saying, “I want the music to feel like a collaborative diary, so I want the live show to feel the same.”
Additionally, Gibson discussed the untapped potential of electronic music, and his intention to push its boundaries. “Electronic music and live shows still does not know itself, he told Lina Abascal. “When I was first working out how to do this, I was stunned to learn how embryonic and unsolved it is.”
“There needs to be jeopardy,” he continued. “There needs to be a sense of risk. It needs to feel like it could fall apart, otherwise it’s something else. If you feel a sense of, ‘This is tangibly happening in front of me, and if he didn’t do that, it would fall apart,’ that’s the excitement of the experience.”
Gibson will return to his hometown on December 8 to play a huge show at Brixton Academy. Tickets are on general sale on September 23. Priority access is available to those who pre-order Actual Life 3 here.