London’s Freya Ridings has enjoyed a stellar 2019, “riding” the success of breakthrough single “Lost Without You”‘s popularity to a deal with Capitol Records and a self-titled debut LP out earlier this summer. Said LP’s “Castles” has been heard on my UKTX program this year, and has also garnered radio airplay elsewhere in Austin. Texas-bound on the Hozier tour this fall, Freya recently took a seat on an available piano bench to knock out a nifty cover of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”:
The 26-year-old’s big voice has been compared to that of Florence Welch, whose posters once adorned teenagedFreya’s bedroom walls. Here’s a great story about a close encounter with her hero (around the 2:15 mark):