Ten Days is, to put it simply, the best piece of work Fred again.. has released since Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022).
There. I said it!
Genuinely, the London producer’s fifth album is amazing. With a combination of ambient sounds, house and drum and bass, Ten Days truly demonstrates the truly incredible talent Frederick Gibson holds. He has been hitting incredible milestones since his 2021 debut album, Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020) and has grown a huge network of people in the music industry from ambient musician/Fred’s parents’ neighbour, Brian Eno, electronic legend Four Tet, as well as his assistance in songwriting from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Charli XCX highlighting a remarkable taste in music – nepo baby or not, the music still slaps.
If you could attend any of his concerts whilst he’s on tour or if he has announced one with only a few days’ notice, it is an opportunity I insist that anyone should take. His headline set last year at Parklife on The Valley stage was one of the best experiences of my life. From the screen changes of Gibson and his right-hand man Tony Friend, as well as each vocalist sampled into his songs like Frank Ocean on a remix of “Sabrina (i am a party)”, to the 10 minutes of Gibson playing music on a little drum pad, to hearing one of my favourite songs ever, “Billie (loving arms)”, Fred again can create a show like no other. I wish I could relive that hour and a half over and over again or even be in person for his closing show at Coachella last year with Skrillex and Four Tet.
Anyway, enough chit-chat about my love for Fred again.., it’s time to talk about his new instalment titled, Ten Days. Gibson continues to present his albums as audio diaries that are filled with spoken word samples of his friends, or videos he has found on YouTube. He also continues to explore his relationship with a significant other as well as friends and family through songs representing ten different days in his life, which he wrote about on Instagram when he announced the album in August: “…all of these are about really very small quiet intimate moments. Some of them are the most intensely joyful things I have felt, and some of them are the other side of things.
The first track, “.one” showcases his use of audio diaries well with a quick full cycle of what to hear throughout the album. Immediately, we transition into the second track, “adore u”, a song originally attributed to Obongjayar’s younger brother but was later also for Gibson’s little sister, thus making the track a song dedicated to all siblings out there in the world. The Afrobeats opener has so much to it that makes it so fantastic. It is so dynamic with loads of beautiful sounds and warm energy to create a relaxing track.
Following “adore u” and the 10-second interlude “.two” comes the lead single “ten”, a chopped-and-screwed hip-hop beat with help from Jim Legxacy that explores the sadness of missing home, which Gibson has done a lot over the last two years after becoming a superstar. His sound is more euphoric here with the idea of having friends around him to keep him company whilst away, which many can relate to, especially with the beginning of your experience at university. The lead single is perfect and had me excited for what was to come.
The sixth track, “fear less”, includes soulful vulnerability from the South Londoner, Sampha, and the two together explore themes of fear and comfort with those close to them. It is a powerful track that showcases the best of both artists capturing human connection through their beautiful lyrics that resonate with listeners.
Next is what I believe is the best track on the entire album, “just stand there”, featuring Irish singer SOAK. I was blown away by the song about telling someone you love them whilst the tempo gradually increases like you have a rush of euphoria for this person. ‘I just stand there / Just before she says / that she loves me’ holds so much power for SOAK as she tells the story of how both she and her partner have fallen in love with each other, highlighting how much she fully feelst for her partner, which is why this track stands out as one of the most lyric-heavy songs for listeners to unpack in four minutes.
The rest of the album carries on with banger after banger with other appearances from Skrillex, Four Tet, Joy Anonymous, and Anderson .Paak etc. Then we reach the penultimate track, “backseat”, with help from The Japanese House and the late Scott Hardkiss. First performed in a secret pub in Somerset months before the release of Ten Days, the final track morphs into new sounds fans of Gibson aren’t familiar with but holds great strength as the closing track for one of his best pieces of work so far.
Fred again is currently on tour in America but it won’t be long before he returns home to tour the UK and possibly headline one of the stages at Glastonbury next year. With the concepts from previous tours and this album alone, it will surely be a spectacular experience for newcomers and people who have been lucky enough to see him before tickets sell out in the first 10 minutes. Ten Days sets itself as a new journey for Gibson that showcases new forms of dance music he has experimented with extraordinarily well. If his collaboration album with Brian Eno last year didn’t prove this enough to fans, then Ten Days surely does.
9/10
