is upstairs at the MOTH Club in Hackney, preparing for the first of two sold-out nights. The interview location feels appropriate. His new double-LP, ‘All Set The Bone’, released this month, exudes physicality and existence. “I wanted it to sound organic and live,” Freeman tells me – just as it will soon be heard by his fans beneath the MOTH Club’s glittering ceiling.

Only around a year and a half ago, Freeman was still balancing music with work – jobs that included cemetery landscaping and working as a restaurant line-cook. With his , earning critical praise and growing his audience, Freeman has now been able to take his music full-time.

“It feels like a privilege to be able to just play music right now and not have to work another job.”

With that privilege in mind, ‘All Set The Bone’ began to take shape quickly. Freeman wrote roughly half of the record during two months in New Mexico, before writing the second half in Vermont. The pace was a symptom of inspiration rather than any kind of external pressure or rush.

“I told myself that if I wrote one song in the two months that I had, or even no songs, it would be fine. I wouldn’t need to force anything. I didn’t want to overthink them or be too precious with waiting forever to put them out.”

Following the writing came the recording. Live, as previously mentioned. That same confidence Freeman has in his own writing ability – as he should following ‘Burnout’ – seeps into his preference for trusting how the music sounds through live recording. “I wanted it to sound like you could hear the relationship between the instruments.”

This choice is unsurprising. Not just because the recording style suits Freeman’s raw indie rock sound, but also because he worked closely with renowned producer John Congleton on the record, whom he could trust with the process.

“It was incredible [working with John]. Just to work with someone who you can kind of try and articulate what the sound is that’s in your head, and he just knows exactly what to do.”

It’s also the process of working with Congleton, whom Freeman describes as “very artist-first”, that complements the live recording process so well. “The way John does things is to get it sounding good before you start recording.”

From hearing about that period of time recording the album in LA, it seemed like human connection was just as important to getting things right as the process itself. “He [John] felt just like a friend after a day.”

“We only played every song one to five takes for each one. Usually, after getting two or three good takes, we would go into the mixing room and listen to them. Usually there was a unanimous favourite amongst us.”

If the recording process relied on instinct and intuition, the writing and subject matter required something more considered and complicated. In his own unique, literary style, Freeman addresses a range of themes on the record.

Political anxieties persist throughout – unsurprising given Freeman’s place within the Americana definition. The second single from the album, ‘Cahokia’, is undoubtedly a political commentary, but one that Freeman himself wrestled with.

“Early on in the process of writing the album, I recognised that some of the songs were more reactionary to the state of the world. It seemed impossible to ignore.”

However, Freeman was keen to exercise caution in his songwriting, wary of reactionary songwriting and the privilege involved in speaking about sensitive subjects.

“I realised that I had to make a decision about whether or not to embrace that challenge of writing about things approaching what’s going on in our country, politics, everything. How to say something productive and not just be reactionary, and how to not be cliché if you’re talking about any sort of social issue.”

Freeman’s writing style, never too on the nose, lends itself to wanting to talk about political issues without being too “cliché”.

“Time to join the world you fucked up

Silences that rise to heaven
Will define which hell we live in”

Freeman also manages to balance the weight of political commentary with themes that touch on his personal life. Lyrics such as “Who do you look to when you’re all on your own?” suggest loneliness – a theme that returns consistently throughout the record. “I kind of offset some of the more large-scale feelings on the album with a lot of personal stuff,” he says. It’s a fitting but almost ironic theme for an album that emits personality and realness through live recording, achieved through closeness and connection.

For Freeman, that same realness comes to the fore in how he measures his success. “The internet’s just too weird of a world to get caught up in. I have to separate myself from how people perceive me online and focus on the real world.”

Streaming numbers, Instagram followers – virtual metrics – don’t matter to Freeman. However, a sold-out room of fans means something. Someone buying a record means something. A conversation after a show means something. Freeman predicts this close connection with the human and the physical will continue to grow in the face of online slop and aggressive algorithms. “I can imagine people going back to making zines and just doing things within their own communities.”

And it’s not just lip service either. I saw Freeman roaming the crowd and listening to his support act Wyatt before starting his own show. He cares about the people who turn up.

“I think shows make me feel, make me understand that people are listening to music.”

It’s satisfying to hear as he is about to walk out and connect with a sold-out room of fans.

For all the grand ideas circling ‘All Set The Bone’, Freeman’s favourite song is not its biggest statement. It’s ‘Marooned’, a long, late-album track and the last song he wrote for the record. A funny, yet unsurprising answer considering the nods to loneliness on the album, despite the emphasis put on human connection and physical interaction by its writer.

‘All Set The Bone’ is ambitious, rewarding and Freeman’s most personal. It deserves to be listened to, even if Freeman himself won’t be paying attention to the streaming numbers. He will notice, however, if you’re turning up to see it live. I strongly recommend it.

‘All Set The Bone’ is out now.