FRED ROBERTS RELEASES HIS DEBUT SOUND OF MY YOUTH EP TODAY

UK HEADLINE AND SUMMER FESTIVAL DATES JUST ANNOUNCED

LISTEN TO SOUND OF MY YOUTH HERE

Credit: Jono White

“an adored new star” – NME

“Fred Roberts — a newcomer from England — takes the standard sounds of big guitar bands and queers them, producing songs like “Runaway”, a touching, vocally-led song about the agonising feeling of running into someone you thought you’d romantically left behind. An exciting pop prospect for the year ahead.” –i-D

“a dreamy synth-laced post break-up anthem, with Roberts spilling his relationship regrets over a pop/indie-rock sound that places him in the same company as his idol Troye Sivan.” –Evening Standard

“Fred Roberts wants you to know that everything’s going to be alright…After building up a following through covers on Instagram and a stint on The X Factor: The Band in 2019, Roberts has arrived onto the scene with the euphoric guitar-pop inspired debut single ‘Runaway’” – Rolling Stone

“Inside the waves of Fred Roberts’ full throttle pop lies an emotionally savvy current; a stream of diaristic and introspective writing, confidently frothing with youthful freedom” – The Line Of Best Fit

“Pop’s newest creator Fred Roberts debuts “Runaway”, an anthemic and introspective exploration of identity and navigation of the modern day” –Notion

“Centred around growing up and figuring out your identity, Runaway is a product of Fred contemplating his past and reflecting on his upbringing as a young queer artist. He brings a sense of youth and freedom back into the generation, a necessary escape from the pressures and anxieties of everyday life.” – Wonderland

“A Gen Z popstar in the making” – Gay Times

“A startling opening gambit, ‘Runaway’ is a fantastic introduction to the world of Fred Roberts” – Clash

(London – April 11, 2024) — On the rise British artist Fred Roberts releases his debut Sound Of My Youth EP, today via Universal Music. The 5 track EP documents a transformative chapter in the 21 yo’s life, tracing the shift through his adolescence to adulthood, from his first love, the exploration of his sexuality to maturity; the coming of age story that has defined his youth.

Having only released his debut single Runaway in April of last year, Fred has already received acclaim from critics across Radio 1, i-D, Rolling Stone, NME, Evening Standard, Wonderland, Clash, The Independent, Them and Gay Times. His frank storytelling throughout the EP, he hopes, might help others going through similar experiences of complex queer love, told through the type of anthemic pop that echoes the sound of some of the artists who have helped inspire him. 

Fred’s cross generational inspirations move from The Killers to The Smiths, Billie Eilish to Little Simz, Matty Healy to Frank Ocean and his idol Troye Sivan, who through his radical portraits of young gay love, marked the first time Fred had seen two men kiss; something he wasn’t able to put into words at the time, but what was to become a watershed moment for Fred which was to inspire the young artist on his own journey.

Lead single Sound Of My Youth was written in LA on the last day of a writing trip with Andrew Wells (Phoebe Bridgers, Halsey) and Anthony Rossomando (Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding). Of the EP Fred said, “Sound of my Youth encompasses the feeling of not being a teenager anymore but also not quite being an adult. The track itself was born from not really knowing where I was in my life. I had just released my first piece of music, and thought that starting this journey would be the shift in perspective I needed. It wasn’t. 

“I spent so many of those teenage years with my eyes fixed on a distant future where everything was perfect and all that I disliked about myself went away, I never seemed to appreciate what I had in front of me. In many ways this song is an angry rant at the younger version of myself but it concludes with the message that I’m still the same person and still not learning from ALL of my mistakes, but that’s ok. I was and am, only young. Owning the theme of the track has allowed me to be kinder to myself and realise that I don’t need to be a perfect, fully formed human at 21.

He continues, “A big part of songwriting for me is to allow someone who is looking for themselves in music to be seen in my tracks. That’s why I’m as honest as possible about my experiences and the way that I tell them, and grouping these 5 tracks together was important. These 5 songs are a time capsule for who I was and probably who I always will be. The songs really are the sound of my youth and it’s my dream for them to now soundtrack the lives of the people who listen.”

Tracklisting:

1. Runaway
2. Say
3. Disguise 
4. Naive
5. Sound of My Youth

News of the EP arrives alongside the announcement of a series of summer festival dates and new headline shows for King Tuts, Glasgow on November 27 and Omeara, London on November 29. Full dates below:

Live Dates

17 The Great Escape, Brighton

July

20 Monument Festival, Sunderland

21 On The Beach, Brighton

26 Camp Bestival, Dorset

27 Latitude Festival, Suffolk

28 Truck Festival, Oxford

August

4 Y Not Festival, Matlock

17 Camp Bestival, Shropshire

November

27 King Tuts, Glasgow

29 Omeara, London

About Fred Roberts

Fred Roberts released his debut single Runaway in April 2023 – an anthemic and introperspective breakthrough, detailing the work of an artist thinking hard about his past, and making music that, in the future he hopes will help others make sense of the tumult of modern-day growing up and reckoning with your identity. Written with Andrew Wells (Phoebe Bridgers, Halsey) and Anthony Rossomando (Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding), the rousing guitar-rock track feels antithetical to the sound of most queer loves songs, chronicling Fred’s encounter with a boy he once knew. Watch the official video for Runaway here. His second single Say, followed by Disguise, received acclaim across the board and saw the artist receive his first Radio 1 interview with Mollie King who has supported Fred from the very beginning.

Fred Roberts is detailing his own frank experiences of complex queer love for the first time, unpacking the formative years of his life and making anthemic pop to help counter the pressures on youth today: “I write songs with the specific intent of helping someone who is going through the same experience”, he says. “I want to be part of something bigger than me.”