Freya Ridings

When chatting with Apple Music in 2019, Freya Ridings humorously described her then newly released single “Unconditional” as “the closest thing I have to a happy song.” While there’s no doubt a dash of hyperbole in the English singer/songwriter’s comment, it accurately reflects the fact that she has largely devoted her art to probing the emotional fallout that ensues when love and passion have soured. It makes for a deeply emotional sound, one the talented pianist (born in 1994 to bohemian parents steeped in the arts) cultivated while splitting time between composing at home and playing pubs in and around her hometown of London. At the same time, it’s not solely the heartache coursing through the breakout hits “Lost Without You” and “Castles” that transformed Ridings from a local talent into an international star. These songs, as well as the entirety of her self-titled 2019 debut, are imbued with a stark, autobiographical realism. Like Adele and Hozier, two of her biggest inspirations, Ridings creates slowly burning anthems—comprising equal parts folk, pop, and soul—that feel as if they were forged in cauldrons tucked deep inside the corridors of her heart. Topping it off is a voice that is beautiful not just for its smoldering intensity but also because it feels shaped by the very real-world pain upon which it meditates.