A product of Newport whose growing rep now finds him based between there and London, this month Lemarl Freckleton releases Blood, Sweat & Fears, his second album as Lemfreck. Taking his grime and rap bona fides and running with them, it’s a work that deserves wide recognition – but first, a chat with Buzz’s Emma Way.
You named the album Blood, Sweat & Fears. Are these the things that drive you?
Lemfreck: Yeah. I realised most of the things I ever do were either driven out of blood, sweat or fears. So in terms of blood, it’s my community and the people around me. Sweat is more the need to constantly be moving forward. And fears is being afraid that I don’t amount to anything. Anything I’ve ever done could just be characterised by one of those three pillars. My nan was part of the Windrush lot and historically in my family, a lot of their decisions were [made] out of fear. It wasn’t that they sat there and cried. They made a change.
What phase of your life were you in while writing this album?
Lemfreck: Some albums are written when people are in an absolute chaos stage, and then some are written where people are reflecting on that chaos stage. This is the little bit in between. I think my next one will be reflective, but right now I’m still amongst it.
As an independent artist, what qualities do you look for in the people you work with?
Lemfreck: A complete love of the art and a love of whatever it is that they’re making. That’s honestly the only thing I ask. I haven’t necessarily been in the industry long – none of my friends are really musicians. But the ones that are, are in love with their craft.
When were you first drawn to music?
Lemfreck: Straight out the womb. I almost didn’t have a choice. It was one of those things ingrained in our family – Christmas was singing and playing instruments. I’m probably one of the worst musicians in my family! Everyone else is so much better than I am.
My grandparents set up the South Wales and Bristol part of New Testament Church Of God, which was a Jamaican church – when everyone came over with Windrush, there were loads set up all over the country, and obviously, there were also musicians in that church. I’m a product of all that.
When did you start developing your original flow as a rapper?
Lemfreck: I’m from that era where everyone on the playground was a rapper, especially in Newport. We had so many MCs – I’m not really sure why, because there weren’t any famous Welsh MCs! I wrote my first rap when I was 12, I’d say, but I wouldn’t outwardly say I was a rapper.
Did you almost think of it more as an instrument at your disposal?
Lemfreck: Yeah, it was the music I was listening to – Skepta, Kano. I was fully embracing it. That was the stuff I put on, on my way back from school or when I was in my bedroom, so I just thought, why would I not do this?
You mentioned in your album that you pay homage in a sense to Newport. How do you do that in your music other than directly mentioning it?
Lemfreck: It’s really weird and nuanced, but in the samples there’s a lot of sounds of Newport in there, and then there’s a lot of archived footage of things that have happened in Newport, sprinkled around. It would be easily missed. No one would really know but there’s something about doing that that still imprints itself on there. I think at the start of knives in there’s a sample where it’s like YTU13, which used to be an old gang that was in Newport. So little things like that go on throughout, and that’s how I pay homage to the place, but also there’s the stories I tell and Newport is a massive part of that.
Where would you ideally imagine someone listening to your album?
Lemfreck: I think – weirdly enough, though this is coming out in August – this is a very winter album. It’s very dark. It’s cold, it’s raining, you’re on the bus… you’re not comfortable. That’s what I imagined. I imagine it the same way that I felt listening to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, at the back of the bus every time I was coming back from school. That’s kind of the same feeling I would want this to have.
Would you say it’s necessary to study music academically to be a musician?
Lemfreck: Oh, it’s not, it’s not. Though I watched a really good documentary talking about James Blake when he was at Goldsmiths – it’s really interesting what you’re exposed to in different genres and writing styles when you’ve got to learn about a subject. That’s all that I feel I missed. I just like knowing things.
It’s funny that you were a drummer because I was listening to your album to get ready for this interview and I was thinking about how percussive-driven it is. I was listening to See Me Now and thinking that if you weren’t that way inclined, the song probably wouldn’t be the same.
Lemfreck: That’s so interesting – I don’t even mean to. I wouldn’t have said drums were my main instrument… it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been sessioning as a drummer. Now you’ve said it, I’m thinking about all the other tracks as well. I think that’s the part of music I love the most, especially in genres like rap or r’n’b – the drums.
There’s a producer, Darkchild, who was a big swinger in the 90s and early noughties – he did Say My Name by Destiny’s Child. He did loads of other stuff. He has a really unique r’n’b sound. When you hear it you’ll be like, oh, yeah, that was on every r’n’b track ever. Someone asked me what my favourite Spice Girls track was, and I remember they have this track called Holler. I went back and played it and it was Darkchild that produced it! That’s such an influence on me.
What’s your album of the year been so far?
Lemfreck: I’m gonna go with Kelela’s album Raven. That is probably the one I spun the most. Or Jordan Ward’s FORWARD. Jordan Ward is probably the less cool answer!
…and an album outside of what you’d normally listen to?
Lemfreck: Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into dropped this year. That had a lot of bangers on there. What was your album of the year?
I’m a massive Paramore fan, so I’ve got to say This Is Why.
Lemfreck: That came out this year? It’s good. In school, I was the only person that could play drums well enough, and Misery Business was the first rock song someone asked me to try and help them cover. That just led me into the weirdest hole. I was playing for bands that were supporting Parkway Drive. It’s a period of my life I always forget about.
Blood, Sweat & Fears is released on Fri 18 Aug via Noctown.
Lemfreck plays Paradise Garden, Cardiff on Sat 2 Sept. Tickets: £11. Info: here
words EMMA WAY