I was already two drinks deep and halfway through a risque little strut across someone’s pool deck when “FREAK” by X&ND hit my ears—hard.
It was one of those nights that tasted like cosmopolitans and bad ideas, heat radiating off the concrete, cheap fairy lights strung over the water, bass from a dying speaker vibrating through plastic lawn chairs. My glitter top was clinging to me in all the wrong places. I was mid-catwalk, halfway between a stranger’s inflatable flamingo and the pool steps, when that slap-you-silly bassline dropped, and X&ND purred “You got that attitude / I want from you.”
Done. I was done.
I threw my arms up, screamed something about being reborn, and made that entire backyard my runway. You know when a song doesn’t just play but summons something? That’s FREAK. She doesn’t knock—she kicks the damn door open in thigh-high boots and a leather whip.
Advertisement
From the moment that dirty groove slid into my bloodstream, I wasn’t dancing anymore; I was possessed. X&ND brings that Prince swagger: sensual, bold, a little dangerous. The kind of sound that grabs your waist pulls you into the mirror and dares you to kiss your own reflection. The vocals seduce, then command. “Won’t you smile for the camera, baby?”
Don’t mind if I do, darling.
We’ve been sold a fantasy of perfection—sugar-coated smiles, safe little secrets, pretty little lies, boy-next-door fantasies. FREAK says fuck that. Be the girl who shows up for brunch with the boyfriend’s parents still hungover, rope burns vivid on his wrists, hickeys blossoming down his neck like a Picasso. Be the story they whisper about while stabbing their avocado toast. That’s what “FREAK” is—it’s permission. It’s the wink across the bar, the blush behind the bravado, the unapologetic yes when everything polite in you says no.
And X&ND isn’t shy about what he’s inviting you into.
When he croons “When the lights go low / When the windows closed / I’m exactly where you wanted me to be”—you know damn well this isn’t just a dance.
“Fill up your camera roll / When you’re alone / You’ll feel what I’m talking ’bout.”
Listen. If you’re not half-naked by the second chorus, trying to remember if you locked the door, you’re stronger than me. The way he teases “You like it naughty / Sweet shibari / Little bunny, let me help you out” is an invitation. You feel it sliding under your skin, a velvet rope slipping tighter. You’re already following his voice in the dark, heart pounding, mouth dry, ready to be undone.
Advertisement
And that bridge? “We can get freaky, baby, every single night.” That’s a prophecy you’re helpless to fight. When he whispers “Breathe in, breathe out / I know you feel it coming,” your body obeys.
Premiered on Triple J Australia’s TOPS show, FREAK didn’t just make an impact. It detonated. They called it “full of attitude” and “the funkiest track I’ve heard on Unearthed in a long time.”
Damn right. This isn’t background music for sipping seltzers. This is the track that makes you lose your shoes, your shame, and your last good decision of the night.
X&ND—NYC-bred, ATL-based, soaked in synthpop, R&B, dancehall, and soul—builds grooves that don’t just move you. They transform you. FREAK is rebellion. It’s seduction. It’s the wild, glitter-dripping beast inside you that refuses to be caged.
Turn the lights down. Close the windows. Show them your freak.
