Ferocious Folk Finesse: Fred Abong's Fear Pageant - Stereo Embers Magazine Stereo Embers Magazine

Hot on the heels of his winning 2022 Yellowthroat record, Fred Abong is back with a new album called Fear Pageant.

On a busman’s holiday from his bass-playing duties in the Kristin Hersh Electrick Trio, Abong’s seventh solo album is a rich and textured affair.

Released via the Seattle indie label Disc Drive, Fear Pageant is a contemplative collection, filled with winning indie crooners like “My Way” and breezy meditations like “Father.”

The New Orleans-based Abong’s sonic attack is a triumphant blend of raw acoustic numbers and dreamy low-fi soul that are buoyed by a deep and stirring vocal delivery that fills each track with a ferocious and fractured finesse.

Poetic, romantic, philosophical and probing, Abong’s songwriting is filled with wisdom and heart and on Fear Pageant, he’s never sounded so assured and commanding.