Actor and musician Anthony Ramos has released a new video for his song, “Say Less,” featuring his co-star from the upcoming In the Heights film adaptation, Melissa Barrera.
“Say Less” is an unabashedly steamy piece of R&B that finds Ramos crooning over swift but soft drums and atmospheric synths: “You had enough of the distance so I came,” Ramos sings, “I got what you need to numb the pain/Know what you want babe/Just say less, less, less.” The video, directed by Bobby Hanaford, captures the mood of the song, with Ramos and Barrera playing out a passionate romance while a darker heartbreak seems to lurk beneath.
“‘Say Less’ is a transition song into this darker world I am exploring in my music,” Ramos said in a statement. “This video is a depiction of two people in a fleeting inferno of a relationship — one that can never be stable — but is too amazing to give up in spite of the inevitable outcome. They’re keeping a flame alive that will eventually burn out or explode. Not sure how it’ll end up, but in the meantime ‘Say Less’.”
Ramos released his debut album, The Good and the Bad, in 2019, while last year he dropped a pair of singles, “Relationship” and “Stop,” as well as a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “If You Want Me to Stay,” featuring Ari Lennox. Ramos also voiced one of the characters in the animated film, Trolls World Tour, starred in Honest Thief, and appeared in the filmed recording of Hamilton, which was released on Disney+. In the Heights is set to arrive in theaters and on HBO Max June 18th.
MUSIC PREMIERES
Four years on from the ‘Actual Life’ series lifting him into the mainstream spotlight, Fred Again.. continues to feel unavoidable. The London producer and DJ born Fred Gibson has moved at a relentless pace, bouncing between sold out stadium dates in New York and surprise appearances at Sheffield’s 1,000 capacity Forge, while also making history as the first electronic artist to top the bill at Reading and Leeds in 2024.
Where the ‘Actual Life’ releases and his fourth album, 2024’s ‘Ten Days’, leaned into warmth and joy pulled from ordinary moments, Gibson has also sharpened his instinct for high impact club weapons rooted in garage, dubstep and jungle. That side of his output lives on ‘USB’, an “infinite album” first imagined in 2022 as a home for tracks that exist outside any fixed universe, including defining moments like ‘Rumble’ and ‘Jungle’.
‘USB002’, the second vinyl only chapter of the ‘USB’ project, brings together 16 recent tracks, many of which surfaced gradually on streaming services over a ten week stretch. The music was shaped live, in step with ten unannounced DJ appearances across the world from Dublin to Mexico City. Even with a Glastonbury style registration system in place, The Times reported that 100,000 people tried to secure tickets for the opening night in Glasgow.
Appropriately, ‘USB002’ feels alive and constantly in motion, helped along by contributions from close collaborators such as Floating Points and Sammy Virji. The rigid, techno driven pressure of ‘Ambery’ echoes elements of Floating Points’ 2019 album ‘Crush’, while Gibson’s take on ‘The Floor’ builds like the slow climb of a rollercoaster before dropping back to earth without warning.
The guest list stretches beyond the usual dance circles, with two Australian guitar bands popping up in unexpected ways. ‘You’re A Star’ reworks Amyl and The Sniffers’ ‘Big Dreams’ into a breakbeat driven rush, while ‘Hardstyle 2’ pulls the experimental post punk edge of Shady Nasty into an Underworld adjacent space alongside Kettama. Gibson’s real trick is his ability to connect with anyone. These tracks are not reinterpretations but full takeovers.
The visual world wrapped around the ‘USB002’ rollout reinforces the instinct behind the music. Phones were prohibited at shows staged in vast warehouse spaces under sweeping light rigs, while Gibson’s team shared striking black and white footage and created artwork for each single on site. Bottling that sense of urgency, the project is rooted in the thrill of the present moment, something Gibson seems able to summon simply by turning up.
If the ‘Actual Life’ series and ‘Ten Days’ captured passing snapshots of experience, ‘USB’ is defined by constant movement, a space where boundaries are removed entirely. Sitting somewhere between an album and a playlist, ‘USB002’ underlines why Fred Again.. feels so dominant right now, and suggests that his current run may only be the beginning of something much bigger.
