“Dem can’t love you like I do…”
Fred Again.. has, well, done it…again.
Following his 070 Shake-sampling “Danielle (Smile On My Face)” released just a few weeks ago, the wildly talented 29-year-old British songwriter-producer is going full steam ahead with the third part in his ambitious Actual Life trilogy, an autobiographical series of releases capturing the sights and sounds of his life on the fly.
With his debut LP, Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020) and follow-up Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15, 2021), Fred weaves voice notes and samples from famous creative friends into spontaneous bops and bangers, turning odds and ends collected along the way in his wild life over the past few months into electronic, dance floor-ready art.
For the uninitiated, the London-born talent’s made quite a name for himself already, having collaborated with ambient legend Brian Eno by the age of 21. He’s also worked a ton with Ed Sheeran, and co-wrote several pop bangers along the way, like Demi Lovato and Clean Bandit‘s “Solo” – and most importantly of all, Rita Ora‘s “Let You Love Me.”
Also, he’s got a maybe-not-so secret EDM life: it seems that his buddy Ed let it spill last year that Fred Again and his brother are the ones with exquisite ’00s pop taste responsible for those amazing Rain Radio songs, which sample Nelly Furtado and Nicole Scherzinger. Is that wildly known? Are they still pretending to be a mystery act? Unclear!
On Thursday (October 6), Fred returned with his latest single from the ongoing project called “Kammy (like i do),” centered around a sample from singer-songwriter and unofficial sixth member of Little Mix, Kamille – who also just happens to be in the studio with Kylie at the moment, for the record.
The song’s been heavily demanded since his Boiler Room set from a few months ago, where he teased the still-unreleased track during the session, causing immediate meltdowns in the comments section.
As with the bulk of his output, “Kammy” is an instant blast, balancing Fred’s hypnotic production skills with Kamille’s knack for hook-y songcraft, like a forgotten late ’90s-to-early ’00s dance gem.
And despite the seemingly loved-up lyrics, it’s more of a dark energy, according to Fred himself.
“To me this is kinda like a twin to smile on my face because it’s about diving further and further down into something that alienates you from everyone around you,” he explained on Instagram.
“Like when she says ‘they can’t love you like I do,’ it never felt to me like a positive lyric weirdly. It felt like two people just alienating the rest of the world in a painful way. I’m not sure I explained that well, I’ll try n write it better in a few days maybe.”
You’ve explained it fine, Fred. It checks out!
Just in time for the chilly season’s approach, the ominous song sounds like Kammy fighting for dear life to salvage a relationship, diving deeper and drowning beneath the beats: “You stay with me through the morning light / Hold me in your arms, we gon’ be alright / Tryna say that babe, I’m sorry…”
The already great song goes especially crazy by the 2:30 mark, as Kamille’s voice stutters and resurfaces for a final bout of desperation on the dance floor.
It’s an instant standout of the year, and ought to dominate the club scene in no time.
“Kammy (like i do)” is featured on Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), due out on October 28.
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Photo credit: Theo Batterham
