Freya Ridings on her upcoming album Blood Orange and headlining Latitude Festival

Virgin Radio

25 Jul 2022, 10:34

Freya Ridings joined Virgin Radio’s Jayne Middlemiss before her headline set at Latitude Festival on the weekend to talk about her new upcoming album and performing again after lockdown.

The last time Ridings was at Latitude, she had just released her 2019 self-titled album and performed in one of the tents on the festival grounds. This time, she is gearing up to release a brand-new album and has bagged herself a spot on the mainstage.

Speaking to Jayne, the Castles singer revealed she had started writing her new record just before lockdown and was very excited for people to hear it.

She said: “I began writing a little bit before the pandemic, but it’s kind of an album of two halves. It’s kind of got the ‘I was quite bitter and sad and lonely and now I’m happy’ thing. So it’s the two parts of that, and it’s going to be called Blood Orange.”

When asked about the title of the new album, Ridings said she chose it because it reflected the overall feeling of the record.

She explained: “I think it has like a thicker skin and it’s harder to get through, and I feel like it’s kind of about growth and growing up as a person but also like your own sort of evolution and the relation of the two halves of the bitter and the sweet, that was kind of what got me.

“Also, I just love fruit.”

Blood Orange is set for release later this year will be the follow-up from Ridings’ acclaimed self-titled album in 2019 that earned her nomination for Best Female at the Brit Awards in 2020.

Headlining Latitude was the first big gig Ridings had done since coming back from lockdown, and it’s fair to say she was raring to go.

One of the things she missed the most about performing live was the buzz of the audience, as she explained to Jayne: “It’s truly surreal. I feel like those moments are kind of the closest I’ve ever felt to being in a film.

“You play shows, and you start off with like 10 people and then 20 people and then eventually you’re standing in front of like 40,000. It’s just an insane amount of people, and to feel- especially when you play songs they know- that wave of love, it just hits you in the chest, and it’s just out of this world.”

It also was the first time the singer had played a lot of her new songs in front of a live audience, and things were made even more special by her family being in attendance.

She added: “I’ve actually brought my family with me, it’s the first festival they’ve ever come to, and I’m just so excited.

“One of the songs, my brother helped me write and it’s the first time I’m playing it. During lockdown, it was just the two of us living at home together before I’d moved out, so yeah, I’m excited for him to hear that one.”

Catch up with all the goings-on at Latitude Festival 2022 with Jayne Middlemiss via the Virgin Radio app.