Great feelings under the disco ball: the Brit makes the power pop glitter.
“I don’t really have friends / Don’t go out on weekends”: Freya Ridings may not be 30 years old yet, but she manages to capture the over-30 lifestyle in a few words on her single “Weekends”. But that’s not what the Brit with the big voice is all about. No, Ridings sings about love on her second album, or rather: its end. So far, so typical of pop.
But she manages to captivate her audience – if only with her hypnotic voice, reminiscent of the other great red-haired British mezzo-soprano: Florence Welch aka Florence + the Machine. Bad tongues would describe Ridings as the tidier, more mainstream-compatible version of the hippie-esque Welch. It’s not entirely wrong, but it’s not bad either.
With grown-up pop, Ridings manages to capture their audience within seconds, even if the album-length melange of anthemic elements and dance beats seems a bit repetitive. However, Freya Ridings always sounds best when she allows her voice some freedom, as in “I Feel Love”, “Wolves” or the catchy tune “Weekends.