In April, Fred again.. famously headline Coachella alongside Four Tet and Skrillex, stepping in as a last minute replacement for Frank Ocean.

What massive stage did he find himself on two weeks later? Which iconic festival did he headline next? On Thursday night, probably still coming down after his Coachella high, the ubiquitous producer performed in a village hall on the Isle of Skye. Yes, you read that correctly.

Fred again.. took to the stage in Skye’s tiny Broadford Hall, putting in the same amount of effort and passion that he gave in California a fortnight ago.

It certainly wasn’t lost on the appreciate Scottish crowd just how incredible it was to have one of the world’s current biggest producers performing in this part of the world, as you can see from the reaction on social media below.

In just a few weeks’ time, Fred again.. will return to the world of mainstream festivals, appearing at Primavera Sound in Spain; much has been made of his grassroots approach to music, and it’s his commitment to playing unexpected outposts like Broadford Hall that are creating such a connection with fans. From Australia to Madison Square Garden to the wild west of Scotland, there’s nowhere he hasn’t found acclaim yet.

The Skye show came the night before Fred again..’s new album, Secret Life, was released to the world. The collaborative album saw him join forces with ambient legend Brian Eno, who got to know Fred again.. many years ago when the pair were neighbours in London.

Fred again.. and Eno have previously worked together, with the former earning writing credits on Eno and Karl Hyde’s 2014 albums Someday World and High Life.

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In a 2022 interview on Apple Music, Eno gushed about his fledgling mentee. “When I first worked with Fred I could see he was brilliant,” he said. “It took me quite a while to think ‘Oh my gosh, this is really a new idea about how you can make music. So I learnt a lot from him.”

“What I noticed with Fred is that he would start something, and he wouldn’t turn it into a loop that’s going to run through the whole track. He’d just have it running for a tiny little bit and then he’d put something else there! [His pieces] are very non-linear; he doesn’t clean everything off, so in every piece of recording, there’s a sort of context that comes with it as well. The sound has a history built into it.”

For more on this topic, follow the Electronic Observer.

https://twitter.com/hey_sidney/status/1654550629891870720?s=21

https://twitter.com/mikeydornan/status/1654605443635765251?s=21

https://twitter.com/lastislandmusic/status/1654060337723842560?s=21

@finn.h18

Fred again was insane in sky@Fredagainagain #fredagain #skye #fred #turndownthelights #broadfordvillagehall

♬ original sound – Fin

https://twitter.com/dranamorphosis/status/1653873094744850434?s=21

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