Fred again.. unveils new collaborative single with Obongjayar

Fred again.. has returned with new music, teaming up with Nigerian singer Obongjayar for collaborative single ‘adore u’. 

The sweetly crafted love song pairs a dreamy Fred again.. instrumental with soft vocals from his fellow Londoner, sampled from the latter’s ‘I Wish It Was Me’, taken from his 2022 debut album, Some Nights I Dream of Doors. You can hear it below. Obongjayar shared a photo of the pair recording together on Twitter. The pair previewed the track together live last week (August 4), when Obongjayar made a guest appearance at Fred’s Lollapalooza Festival set in Chicago.

That trip to the US also saw Fred meeting Selena Gomez for dinner, leading to speculation that the pair may work together as rumours persist that the Rare singer is lining up a musical comeback. Her last release was the standalone single ‘My Mind & Me’ last year, taken from the Apple TV+ documentary of the same name that charted Gomez’s recent battles with mental ill health.

‘adore u’ arrives as Fred again.. gears up to play a clutch of huge UK shows, including a four-night residency at London’s Alexandra Palace. You can see full details below. Last month, he received his first nomination for the Mercury Prize, for last year’s Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022). Several bookmakers have him as the 3/1 favourite to take home the trophy at the time of writing.

Obongjayar, meanwhile, had recently spoken about being mindful of potential burnout in an interview with Rolling Stone Australia; he dropped a fresh single, ‘Just Cool’, in May. “You don’t have to be on the go every single time. As an artist, you’re always already, by default, either taking in information or you’re letting it out. You’re constantly doing that and once you add on to what you’re naturally doing, it can create this fucking block of stress,” he said, attributing his relentless recent work rate to the inertia he felt during the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

“I’ve taken a step back, I’m reading again; I’m taking my time. I’m seeing friends,” he went on. “I don’t know if it’s true for other people, but the experience of putting out your first album is like, “Cool, now it’s time. We’re here now!”, you know? It doesn’t have to be like that, though. It’s nice, but it doesn’t have to be like that. You can take it easy, take your time with it. At the end of the day, music shouldn’t feel like a grind.”

Fred again.., August 2023:

26 – Edinburgh, Connect Festival

September 2023:

4 – London, Alexandra Palace

5 – London, Alexandra Palace

6 – London, Alexandra Palace

8 – London, Alexandra Palace