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 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 love songs, chronicling Fred’s encounter with a boy he once knew. His second single Say was released in September, receiving 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’s cross generational inspirations move from Frank Ocean to The Smiths, Billie Eilish to Little Simz, Matty Healy to Brandon Flowers 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.

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.”