STACK #243 January 2025

FEATURE MUSIC

FRED AGAIN … AGAIN

FUN FACT Fred Again’s fourth solo album was his first not to be called Actual Life . After Ac tual Life , Actual Life 2 and 3 , he decided to call this album Ten Days because “it’s ten songs about ten days”. He took to Instagram to explain the title: “Basically all of these are about really very small, quiet, intimate moments. Some of them are like the most intensely joyful things I have felt, and some of them are the other side of things. And some days I don’t want to speak about ’cos I’m not the only person it was an important day for, if that makes sense.”

F red Again is one of the hottest stars of the 2020s, with fans all around the world. When Phil Jamieson spoke to STACK in 2024, he raved about the British producer. “I wish I knew how to write electronic dance music,” the Grinspoon singer said. “I love a lot of the Fred Again stuff, I think it’s really clever and inspirational. I just don’t know how to do it.” Since releasing his Actual Life EP in 2020, Fred Again has become one of the world’s biggest stars. He won two Grammys in 2024, including ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’. Ten Days entered the Australian charts at number three in September, behind Missy Higgins and Sabrina Carpenter. It’s Fred Again’s highest-charting album. Jeff Jenkins Four months after it was released, Fred Again’s Ten Days gets the vinyl treatment.

Ten Days (White Vinyl Edition) by Fred Again is out Jan 31 via Inertia

Fred Again

Fred Again was born Frederick Gibson. He started calling himself Fred Again (which he likes to write as Fred again..) after he saw 2002’s Scooby Doo movie. Following a supernatural body-swap, Fred Jones exclaims, “I’m Fred again!”

THE NAME GAME

THE FEAR FACTOR

THE NAME GAME

Fear not, Franz Ferdinand are back.

F ranz Ferdinand, one of the greatest Scottish bands to emerge this century, have returned with their sixth studio album, their first in seven years. It’s called The Human Fear , but singer Alex Kapranos says we’ve got nothing to be frightened of. “Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had,” he smiles. “Fear reminds you that you’re

The band’s name was inspired by both a racehorse and a key figure in world history. When the guys saw a horse named Archduke Ferdinand win a big race in 2001, they thought it was a good name for a band. Of course, the horse was named after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked World War I.

The Human

Fear by Franz Ferdinand is out Jan 10 via Universal

alive. I think we are all addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. “So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.” The album was preceded by the Audacious first single, of which Kapranos explained: “It’s about having an audacious response when you feel the fabric of existence come undone around you. Being bold, contrary. Peering over the edge into the eternity of non-existence and saying, ‘Aye! F-ck it! Not today, thank you!’” Jeff Jenkins

Dino Bardot, Bob Hardy, Alex Kapranos, AudreyTait, and Miaoux Miaoux

You know the name, but what was the song that thrust Franz Ferdinand into the spotlight? It was a smash hit 21 years ago. Take Me Out topped Triple J’s Hottest 100. In fact, two versions of the song appeared in the countdown – Franz Ferdinand’s original at number one, and the Scissor Sisters cover at number 44. FRANZ FLASHBACK

35