Freddie Lewis - go! (Single) + 10 Questions

Freddie Lewis Returns with Bittersweet Bop “go!” — A Queer Break-Up Anthem That Sets You Free.

Indie-soul artist and Bristol mainstay Freddie Lewis is back with “go!”, a self-produced single dropping 6th August that turns goodbye into a kind of liberation.

Don’t expect heartbreak ballads here — this is an upbeat, jazz-infused pop-soul groove that dances with the idea of parting ways with love, and doing so kindly. “One of the greatest gifts of queerness,” Freddie says, “is that relationships can be done queerly... you can say bye whole-heartedly and with love.”

Drawing sonic inspiration from Arlo Parks, Olivia Dean, and Hard Life, Freddie continues to blend genre and feeling with lyrical sharpness. With growing acclaim across BBC Radio 1, Spotify playlists like Transcend and New Music Friday UK, and festival slots at Glastonbury and SXSW London, Freddie’s star is still rising.

Catch him live:

• 9 Sept – The Libra, Camden (Tickets here)

• 13 Sept – Milton Keynes Pride

If you’re ready to embrace the power of parting with grace, go! is the reminder you didn’t know you needed.

Freddie Lewis sat down with Wordplay Magazine to answer our infamous 10 Questions:

1.⁠ ⁠So tell me, how did it all begin? What sparked your love for music?

When I was a kid my Nan used to play piano in the pit for a local Amateur Dramatics society that put on shows in Fareham. I used to go and watch rehearsals and turn the pages for my Nan. And then get her to play my favourite songs for me when we got home. Then I begged my mum for singing lessons when I was about 8, and the rest followed from there.

2.⁠ ⁠Who are some artists that influence you and that you want to work with in the future?

I really love Olivia Dean and what she’s doing at the moment. Matt Hales, who produces a lot of her stuff, is probably my biggest dream collaborator right now. He did a lot of Lianne La Havas’ stuff too, and I just like he produces, the attention to texture and economy of arrangement is really appealing to me.

3.⁠ ⁠What projects do you have coming up and can you give us any info on them?

So I just released my latest single ‘go!’, which is all about saying goodbye with a full heart at the right time, and properly letting go of someone when it isn’t working anymore. I feel like generally we are taught to hold onto relationships a bit too long, and tie a lot of our own self worth to them in order to make this seem like a viable choice, but actually letting things end is so crucial to being happy in my experience. There’s more coming after this one, too!

4.⁠ ⁠How would you describe your sound?

It varies! This new track is really my most indie vibe in a long time! It’s got real drums and lofi vocals and quite a sparse arrangement. Broadly, I make pop music, but in that I take a lot of influence from jazz, indie, soul, spoken word, and my experience working as a sound designer has definitely informed my newer, self-produced stuff; I’ve gained a real interest in texture.

5.⁠ ⁠What's your proudest moment to date so far as an artist?

You know, I think it’s actually the strength it takes continually to keep making work in this economy. I could tell you about the classic stuff like playing Glasto, or selling out shows, tours, international shows, all that stuff, but actually it’s in the time where those things aren’t happening, where very few people are engaging with my work (there have been several periods of this in my 4 years of releasing music), that I learn more about who I am an artist, what drives me, what matters to me, and I figure out how to keep going. I made very little money in the last year, so couldn’t afford to pay a producer, and so I began to self-produce my work. I found it so empowering and super freeing, and it brought me into the new sonic world you can hear on ‘go!’.

6.⁠ ⁠Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?

I guess some parts of it are a game, and are best thought of that way (game as in something you play for fun, rather than game as in competition). Social media is definitely something I view as a weird game I have on my phone. The numbers ‘game’, too, as in stream count, monthly listeners, these feel so abstract and feel so removed from me. 

The other part though, making art and putting on great shows, are to be taken seriously! Developing myself as an artist, growing my skills and my confidence performing, writing tirelessly and mustering all the honesty I can in that, these are kinda separate from that game above, does that make sense?? 

I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s important to remember what part of it actually matters in your heart (for me, it’s the latter).

7.⁠ ⁠Are there any artists on your radar right now that we should check out?

I’m just gonna drop the names of some queer artists and peers of mine who I think are amazing.

Kerensa: if you like Kate bush? And baroque pop music. They’re also just one of the sweetest people ever, and the way they build visual worlds around their songs is super impressive.

PEACH: soulful pop music, one of the most effortlessly beautiful voices I know. They’re actually opening for me at a show I’ve got coming up on September 9th at the Libra, Camden, and I’ve done that thing where I’ve now got to follow them. I’d regret it if I wasn’t so blessed to share the stage with them.

Sans Soucis: maybe it’s ambitious of me to call Sans Soucis a peer but mainly just their work is so thoughtful, textural, political. I respect it a lot.

8.⁠ ⁠What albums are on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?

Ventriloquism - Meshell Ndegeocello

In Limerence - Jacob Alon

Pieces of a Man - Gill Scott-Heron

Tuff Times Never Last - Kokoroko

Blue Dream - Dandelion Head

9.⁠ ⁠What do you like to do when you're not making music?

I like walking and hiking, reading, reality TV, friend-dates, date-dates. I’m also trying to get a handle on gluten and dairy free baking at the moment! This sounds like quite a dry dating profile. Haha.

10.⁠ ⁠Name Three things you can't live without when in the studio?

I was about to list equipment but then I realised I could totally live without them, but these things I genuinely don’t think I could live without: 

•⁠  ⁠a non-judgemental, warm atmosphere (even when or especially when working alone)

•⁠  ⁠something to write countless notes in

•⁠  ⁠decaf coffee