London-based producer Fred Gibson, aka
Fred again.., is responsible for numerous chart-topping pop and rap songs, working alongside the likes of
Ed Sheeran,
Stormzy, and
Stefflon Don. He also produces for himself, blending house/electronica with everyday samples and recorded conversations culled from his life and social media, as on his debut solo single, 2019's "Kyle (I Found You)." The same year, he worked closely with
Ed Sheeran on
No. 6 Collaborations, for which he took home Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards. On the heels of his success, he released his first two full-length albums, 2021's
Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020) and
Actual Life 2 (February 2 - October 15, 2021).
Born in London in 1994, Gibson's journey began after he joined an a cappella group at
Brian Eno's studio in London; there, he managed to impress
Eno with his Logic skills, leading to Gibson gaining the revered musician as a mentor. By 2014, he was working with
Eno, collaborating on his trilogy of albums alongside
Underworld's
Karl Hyde. After an impressive start, Gibson went on to co-produce
Roots Manuva's 2015 album
Bleeds. He followed that with a number of high-profile singles, including a couple of tracks on
Ellie Goulding's 2015 album
Delirium,
Stefflon Don and
Charli XCX's 2016 single "After the Afterparty," and
Little Mix's 2017 single "Is Your Love Enough?" In 2018, he became in increasingly high demand, working with numerous musicians in a variety of genres, including
Shawn Mendes,
Ray BLK,
George Ezra,
Clean Bandit,
Rita Ora, and
Jess Glynne.
Fred again..'s debut solo single, "Kyle (I Found You)," arrived in 2019, using samples he had sourced from social media, in this case a clip of a friend singing. In the same year, he worked closely with
Ed Sheeran on
No. 6 Collaborations; he co-produced all but two tracks on the album. Gibson had been nominated multiple times at awards ceremonies, but in 2020 he landed his first win for Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards. Later the same year, he released the GANG mixtape alongside
Headie One, which featured an eclectic array of guests including
Jamie XX,
FKA twigs,
Octavian, and
Sampha.
More songs arrived in the fall of 2020, including "Julia (Deep Diving)," which found
Fred again.. crafting a song around a social media post by singer
Julia Michaels. The track was also included on his debut full-length album, 2021's
Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020). As with his past work, the LP again found him building songs out of everyday samples and recorded conversations culled from his life. Included on the album was the track "Marea (We've Lost Dancing)," featuring vocals by Marea Stamper, aka
the Blessed Madonna.
Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15, 2021), a follow-up album covering a different time period, arrived that November ahead of the 2022 stand-alone singles "Admit It (U Don't Want 2)" featuring
India Jordan and "Lights Out" with Romy and
HAAi. ~ Liam Martin