Young marks new territory for Erica Freas who has spent the past decade fronting punk bands and releasing sparse solo records. Recorded by Freas herself over the past two years, Young’s eleven tracks share a common thread: they were all written as love songs for her friends at moments of big change and transition. Freas has consistently used her platform to stand up for diversity and representation within the music scene and social injustice in the greater world. On this album, she has turned inward and written about the easy, loving parts of life and connection. “We’re so caught up in this moment with all the real pressures and challenges that mark our lives right now; this all-consuming moment. With these songs, I was thinking about what world we’re welcoming the next generation into and, similarly, how we approach our own futures and histories as we grow. These songs are about being alive, whether we’re new to it or have been around awhile.” – Erica Freas Young is flush with collaborations by Freas’ community. There are backing vocals sprinkled throughout the album; recorded across the world from her hometown Olympia, to Berlin, Philadelphia, a stairwell in London and Freas’ current home, Bristol UK. Freas’ mother & sister sing on Little Sunrise, and Golden Welcome begins as a straight-forward tune before swelling into a sound collage with messages and snippets of song woven through a wall of cello & electric guitar. Freas’ previous releases, Belly (LP 2012), Tether (EP 2014), and Patient Ones (LP 2015), were all recorded live with vocals and guitar tracked simultaneously. On Young, working alone and on her own time, Freas was able to really stretch out and sink into the songs. The result is dynamic and vulnerable, presenting electric textures and layered vocals that are worldmaking, unabridged and whole.

“It’s bare, it’s bedrock, it’s what you find in dreaming. It’s a life lived by example and the sounds that transpire from such actions. Inspiring.” – Razorcake Magazine