LEMFRECK

LEMFRECK is the stage name of Lemarl Freckleton, a Welsh artist from Newport whose work moves between rap, alternative R&B and gospel influences. His album Blood, Sweat & Fears won the 2024 Welsh Music Prize.

I’d like to say I make music for people who just want to feel things but I think that's such a weird thing to say, “Oh, my art is important because it’s not like other art. It’s vulnerable and honest.” Then I learned that should be the baseline for all art.

So an ego death had to occur, and for so long I didn’t know what made my art important to anyone but myself. Which was fine, until my friend Sophia explained to me what she got from a song I made. She used the words 'Joy' and 'Appreciation'.

I was so uncomfortable. I couldn’t understand why people would associate something I created with such important aspects of life. That was the point at which I realised that to feel isn’t promised, and in a world that punishes feeling, that’s all I want to offer.

I’m not interested in everything being perfect. I’m interested in it feeling true. At the centre of me as an artist is the relationship with other people: love, friendship, distance, regret, repetition, and all the complicated ways we affect one another.

I want my music to make you think of somebody other than yourself. Sometimes that person will make you smile. Sometimes you’ll miss them. Sometimes you’ll remember exactly why they’re no longer in your life.

There isn’t always a lesson or a happy ending, because that isn't my truth. Sometimes we repeat ourselves. Sometimes we know better and still make the wrong decision.

I’m trying to make honest music about those moments. Music that doesn’t tell you how to feel, but gives you somewhere to feel it.

Freckleton grew up in St Julians, Newport, and later lived in Bristol and Brixton. His background includes work as a gospel session artist and as a producer in the pirate grime scene. His music explores community, identity and life in Wales.

In 2025, LEMFRECK performed at The Great Escape, Glastonbury and Primavera.

The Pursuit (2021)
Blood, Sweat & Fears (2023).
WE HAVE BEEN HERE (EP, May 2025),

Blood, Sweat & Fears won the Welsh Music Prize in 2024. LEMFRECK was named BBC Introducing Wales Artist of the Year in 2023.

LEMFRECK produced and presented the BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Black Music Wales. He also presented BBC Wales Welsh Music Prize highlights in 2025.