In case you missed it, Fred again.. surprised fans in Sheffield last weekend (August 21) by bringing Amyl and the Sniffers’ frontwoman Amy Taylor on stage during his set at The Forge.

The appearance came the night before Amyl and the Sniffers played Leeds Festival as part of this year’s Reading & Leeds lineup. Together, the pair debuted a full remix of the band’s track “Big Dreams”, from their latest album Cartoon Darkness. The reworked version forms part of Fred again..’s ongoing USB project, which he had been updating live on stream just a day before the Sheffield show.

Taylor brought her trademark energy to the collaboration, with Fred again.. later sharing a clip online and captioning it: “this is footage of me witnessing the degree of icon that amyl is … she’s playing Leeds today so joined us in Sheffield last night. yesterday was the first time we got to meet and then we play this out for the first time. cannot waitttt to get to play it live with the full band and everything.”

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The following night at Reading Festival, Amyl and the Sniffers made headlines again when Taylor paused mid-set to share her political views. Addressing the crowd, she said: “I want to say fuck J.K. Rowling, and I want to say my heart is with the people in Palestine. It takes nothing to think about that kind of thing and talk about that kind of thing, and any kind of action is some kind of action. What else can I say? I guess fuck Trump, haha! That’s it, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Meanwhile, the band’s album Cartoon Darkness continues to earn critical acclaim. It was recently ranked No. 4 on Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s list of the 100 Best Australian Albums of the 2020s So Far, praised as “a thrilling album from Australia’s best rock ’n roll band … tackling weighty subjects including the climate crisis and the rise of AI with passion and verve.”

The record also peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, No. 9 in the UK, and entered the Billboard 200, while winning Best Live Act and Best LP/EP at the Rolling Stone Australia Awards.