Brand new album from Freidrich$

There’s not many artists working in the underground with the sort of mystery surrounding Freidrich$. Wrapped in elaborate makeup and surrounded by an intentionally elusive mythology, he exists somewhere between performer, apparition and conduit for sound. Stories of his origins are deliberately murky, with some imagining him as a ghost summoned from the static between frequencies, while others place him silently working in dimly lit studios. Whatever the mythology, the music itself provides the clearest introduction through transmissions that are strange, intimate and charged with a sense of conviction.

Freidrich$’ ethos has always been concerned with creating an atmosphere and his music transforms sound into something elemental, hovering between beauty and disquiet while allowing cryptic self-reflection to sit at its centre. A trio of EPs landed last year and quickly mapped out a fiercely individual sonic world that seemed to arrive from somewhere just beyond the familiar and what followed was an astonishingly prolific period.

Multiple EPs and full-length records appeared over the following year, moving between brooding electronica, fragmented art pop and dashes of R&B and rock while continually expanding the sphere of the Freidrich$ project. Collaborations with producers including Zephyr brought further creative perspectives into the picture but now Freidrich$ returns to the solitary world that’s always been central to his work.

His latest album titled We’re A Long, Long Way From Home now finds that world suddenly developing. Freidrich$ has become known for outsider-art R&B, a style built around intimacy, minimalism and rough edges and on the new record, those qualities remain firmly intact but the sketches have grown into something considerably more ambitious. The album takes the strange economy of his earlier music and takes it towards larger songwriting structures, allowing melodies, guitars and pianos to form in a space that once might have seemed entirely outside his musical language.

In many ways, We’re A Long, Long Way From Home is a rock album made by someone who doesn’t really make rock music. Jeff Buckley, Elton John, Neil Young, The Smiths and Elliott Smith all ripple somewhere within its atmosphere, sometimes more directly and sometimes as distant echoes. Guitars, pianos and blown-out textures collide with singer-songwriter structures, while skeletal R&B and hip hop production continues to provide the underlying framework, resulting in a record that seems caught between genres without ever appearing lost.

“Lil’ Pieces” starts off the record with swirling guitar notes and hazy vocalisations before slipping into a dreamy scene of soft vocals and rattling percussion, casting a mesmeric slice of alternative R&B from catchy and transportive throughout. “A Pause for a Day” glides with delicate acoustic guitar tones and stuttering instrumental texture as the crisp snap of drums ushers in mellow vocal delivery which floats above with tender melodies carrying heartfelt lyricism. With “City Lights” the blend of gentle guitar and rustling beats forms a breezy groove cut with soulful vocal elements to craft an atmospheric and blissfully melodic jam.

“Soren” brings woozy synths with pulse through glitchy percussive patterns as smooth vocal lines hover above to form an immersive soundscape full of memorable melodies and overlapping rhythms. On “Tiny,” Freidrich$ leans into a laid back rhythmic flow where the steady punch of drums underpins drifting instrumental textures and emotive vocal work to deliver a moving R&B-inflected outing.

The flicker of lively synth notes brings in “Promised Land” as Freidrich$’ slick vocal work injects moody leads above the driving hip hop anthem while “Rock ‘N’ Roll” brings bouncy chords and jumpy beats to serve up an infectious moment brimming with energising arrangement and expressive vocals. Closing the record with “Pop Song,” the bubble of synths and jittery drums is met with subtly intense vocal layers to present a defiant finale to his stellar new album.

Listen to We’re A Long, Long Way From Home below