One of our highlights of Focus Wales, Newport artist L E M F R E C K releases his new EP ‘Blood, Sweat & Fears Vol. 2’ this week. The announcement comes after another standout performances at The Great Escape recently.
L E M F R E C K has also revealed new single ‘That Guy’. A scathing commentary on racism and online abuse.
L E M F R E C K (AKA Lemarl Freckleton) comments on the track “I wrote that guy off the back of being racially abused on social media. After the events over the past year, I just couldn’t understand, firstly, how it’s still an issue that isn’t getting better, but also how the perpetrators can be so fearless. I’ve always had zero tolerance for this kind of thing, so I just couldn’t comprehend how they weren’t able to consider any consequence to their actions”.
With languid beats and illuminating keys, and his trademark delivery that possess a strong inner confidence as his prescient bars burn bright as they take apart the racist abuse of a brazen troll, and questions how this can still happen in 2023. As well as his excellently perceptive delivery, Lemfreck’s ability to seamlessly merge elements of grime, soul, gospel and hip hop into his own orbit makes him one of the most unmissable artists in Wales right now.
Last year saw the release of Blood, Sweat & Fears Vol. 1, which gathered support from BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Wales, BBC 1Xtra, Rinse FM, No Signal and Amazing Radio. He also earned a Welsh Music Prize nomination for debut album The Pursuit (2021), and was featured on BBC Introducing’s One To Watch list, culminating in a performance at the legendary Maida Vale Studios for Gorwelion Horizons.
L E M F R E C K’s music is jam packed with vulnerability, honesty and life experiences. He’s fully versed in the art of storytelling, bareing his roots as a Newport gospel session artist, his time as a producer for the Pirate grime scene in Bristol and Wales, to present day where he’s immersed himself in South London’s music scene.
“As I get older I think I become less complex. This EP explores the clarity in that. The things that I thought used to matter don’t matter anymore”, he explains.
In L E M F R E C K’s case the only things that drive him now are his Community (Blood) his Energy (Sweat) and the things that scare him (Fears). “The whole point of Blood, Sweat & Fears is to give a voice to those in our community. There are whole regions within Wales that are surrounded by poverty due to being purely forgotten by those in government. Our biggest fear is that we are never seen or heard. So we want to create something that forces the world to hear us”,
L E M F R E C K adds, “I’ve been unofficially calling this project The Black Paintings after the Goya collection. Some say he was deep in his insanity when he made those and I feel there’s a correlation to how I was feeling during the writing of volume 2. I went back to my Grime roots, something I left as I didn’t think there would be space for it in my sound. But I’m a fan of the darkness”.
The rest of 2023 will see L E M F R E C K take ‘Blood, Sweat & Fears‘ on the road, with live dates to be announced soon.
L E M F R E C K’s new single ‘That Guy’ is out now. Taken from the upcoming EP ‘Blood, Sweat & Fears’, due for release 26th May.
