British singer-songwriter Freya Ridings has carved herself a niche in the UK pop scene with her captivatingly smoky voice and her knack for penning emotion-heavy tunes that alternate between the intimate and the epic. Born in London in 1994, she learned the fundamentals of playing the guitar from her dad, veteran film and TV actor Richard Ridings. Her first single, “Blackout,” arrived in 2017, but it was her next one, the spare, bittersweet piano ballad “Lost Without You,” that earned her a lofty perch on the British charts. And it was 2019’s widescreen lover’s lament “Castles” that made her name across Europe.