English singer-songwriter Freya Ridings has announced the release of her forthcoming second album. Dubbed Blood Orange, the record is scheduled for release on 5th May, and follows the artist’s 2019 self-titled debut.
Alongside the album announcement, Ridings has unveiled the new single, ‘Weekends’. With a mood designed for the dance floor, the seemingly-upbeat song draws inspiration from a specific moment in the singer’s life that was less than euphoric. “There was a breakup when I got given my first platinum disc for ‘Lost Without You’,” Ridings said in a statement. “I had no one to call and I was sat alone in a bar in King’s Cross.”
Freya Ridings – ‘Weekends’
She continued, “I’d chosen to put the energy into my career, and you miss so many birthdays, people just stop inviting you because they don’t think you’re around. It looks as though I had thousands of people around me, but actually I was the most alone I’ve ever been. So that song felt like me being scarily honest with myself, which was hard.”
Ridings originally planned to record the new album in Los Angeles but then Covid came along, forcing her to pivot somewhat. She tapped into the sorrowful nature of 2020 and a then-recent breakup to dive into her emotions. The result was a series of tracks (many becoming fan-favourites after live-streamed performances throughout 2020) that capture sadness and heartbreak and are now filtered through a lens of triumph and perseverance.
“It’s an album of two halves, 18 months of me being really heartbroken and alone and then 18 months of being the happiest I’ve ever been,” Ridings said. “So it’s those two halves, the bitter and the sweet, and the transition from one to the other, and allowing yourself to go through that.”
Blood Orange is set for release on 5th May.
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