Those of you who’ve been following us for the past year know how much we’re in love with Freya Ridings and her impeccable voice, so gracefully sonorous and pure. We count ourselves lucky to have experienced it live at Outside Lands Music Festival back in August, where she was one of our favorite acts of the weekend. So when we found out that the siren from London had teamed up with innovative UK underground music pioneer MJ Cole on a haunting new single, we knew to expect something very extraordinary. Sure enough, Waking Up is a stunner. The song, which premiered last night via Complex UK and Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1, is an atmospheric opus riding high on Freya Riding’s operatic voice, whose flawless timbre and breathtaking resonance are like a cross between London Grammar’s Hannah Reid and Evanescence’s Amy Lee, the latter particularly striking in the orchestral soundscape MJ Cole has crafted for the song, rich in cinematic scope and melodramatic keys. Waking Up is the first and title track taken from MJ Cole’s new EP, releasing in early 2019. It’s the second EP in a series he is releasing throughout the year, with the first one, Foundations, having dropped back in October. Speaking on the track MJ says: "Freya is one in a million. She has a unique presence and aura which both come through in her music. We wrote Waking Up in a single session, Freya delivering just two vocal takes as complete performances - no punching in or fixing. We set out to build the track with the waking up idea in mind - starting off with a haunting piano figure and then crescendoing towards the peak at the end of the second chorus. We’re both beyond excited to release this to the world.” Freya adds: “Being in the studio with MJ Cole was such an authentic and spellbinding experience! So excited and proud that he’s officially releasing ‘Waking Up’ he’s one of my heroes and it’s an honour!” Stream/download Waking Up, here, as we look out for more music from MJ Cole!
