Vince Freeman Announces Long-Awaited Debut LP With New Single 'Powers'

Vocal powerhouse Vince Freeman has announced his long-awaited debut album; the painfully honest, life-richly-lived world of Scars, Ghosts & Glory will be available March 2024. 

With the announcement comes “Powers,” the deeply empowering first offering from the record, out today. A gospel-infused anthem of thanks and defiance, positivity and optimism, “Powers” showcases both Freeman’s soulful rasp and his faith in the power of song. From his journey as industry tastemaker to prime-time musical acclaim then complete contentment, Vince Freeman’s got the power. 

Freeman said: “I think that if you're told, 'No' OR 'You're the wrong fit' enough times, it's hard not to start believing it. That was definitely me, and I didn't even know it. If someone was to tell me that I would be releasing my music to the world 2 years ago I would have laughed. I hadn't given up, I was just being realistic. I was nearly bankrupt, running a small horse box coffee business to try and pay the mortgage during the pandemic and not doing much in the way of music.

This all changed when I got a new record deal. Just that small thing, that 'YES,' that 'You are good enough' changed me and as a result started this journey. I woke up the next morning and wrote ‘Powers’ and I am so excited that ‘Powers’ is going to be the first single that the world gets to hear. ‘Powers’ is about my realisation that I had been searching for something that I always had. The power is in me.”

In the accompanying music video, directed by Moss Davis and produced by Singularity Film, Freeman is seen liberated, immersing himself in open water. With shots cut to intimate family moments and a transformative performance in a local bar, everything about “Powers” feels life affirming.

As the title of his forthcoming debut album suggests, the scars are as important as the glory to Freeman. Scars, Ghosts & Glory is a 12-track collection of songs produced by Paul Visser (aka GoldCrush), brimming with powerful earworms and honest tales. Scars also take a literal form for Freeman, who spent six years in pain, consistently under the surgeon’s knife, perennially fearful that he’d never walk or perform again. Making a miraculous, full recovery, he’s ready to make the most of what life has to offer.

As it did for many, the pandemic derailed Freeman, switching gears and opening a mobile coffee stall, Coffee Rocks. Some well-timed good-karma, perhaps, an entertainment lawyer buying a coffee at a festival led to Freeman able to raise the funds to complete his album and set up his own label, Kinetic Records, to release it. “It certainly wasn't the fairy tale that I wanted it to be,” he says. “It was hard work. But sometimes it's hard work that makes things open up.”

Freeman’s career is one to be admired, and one always centered around hard work. As a regular performer at West London club, Ginglik, Freeman founded their popular night ‘Shush,’ performing alongside and/or helping to give early opportunities to the likes of Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini, Newton Faulkner and Nizlopi. Later, around the time he was part of BBC1 TV talent show The Voice, Freeman was playing 300 gigs a year.

While appearing on a TV talent show under the mentorship of The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue was a learning experience, his empowering contentment now feels more of an achievement. With a decade’s hindsight, Freeman said; “You need to own these things. When I was younger, I thought I needed to be a certain person. I was chasing fame – which is now probably the thing that I would run away from.”

Performing at the likes of the F1 at Silverstone, horse-racing at Ascot, the FA Cup Final, receiving a platinum disc (for a collaboration with Lost Frequencies), 5 European Top 10s, sharing stages with Eric Clapton, Paul Weller, Jocelyn Brown, and Jamie Woon, and even has a thank you on Ed Sheeran’s debut album, Freeman has had undeniable success.

Scars, Ghosts & Glory is the sound of a musician who has poured everything of himself into his music, made his own luck, overcame life-threatening challenges and been his own best ambassador. This is Vince Freeman’s journey and his towering achievement. 

Photo Credit: Chris Boulton

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