One wouldn’t recommend Freya Ridings’s first studio album, 12 tracks of longing, loss, soft-focus anger and Faustian pacts, to the heartbroken.
It’s a lachrymose break-up record that’s carried by the 25-year-old north Londoner’s extraordinary voice — rich, a little Florence Welch, a little Hannah Reid from London Grammar.
Acoustic break-up albums can feel a bit one-note but Ridings has tricks up her sleeve. You may be familiar with Lost Without You, a soaring tear-jerker with a catchy hook, which became the unexpected hit of last summer after it was heard on Love Island: You Mean The World To Me is a wishy-washy version of the same song.
Love Is Fire, however, has plenty going on — drums pulsating, instrumentals — and shows off Riding’s voice. Ultraviolet is haunting, Holy Water has a touch of soul, and on Poison, the contrast of that rich voice and tinkling piano is electrifying.
