Fred again.. 'Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)' Turns Four

Fred again.. released Delilah (Pull Me Out of This) on October 17, 2022, as the fourth single from Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022). The track had already gained attention months earlier when he played it during his Boiler Room debut in London on July 29, 2022, where the performance circulated widely online and gave listeners an early introduction to several unreleased tracks that would later appear on the album.

The Sample and the Story

The track samples Delilah Montagu singing her 2021 song Lost Keys in an Instagram video, with the line "you know how to calm me down" becoming the vocal at the centre of the production. Fred again.. experimented with several versions before settling on the idea behind the finished track: experiencing a panic attack in a club and needing someone you trust to help you through it.

That meaning gave Montagu's vocal a specific role within the track, with the words representing the person who can calm someone down when the surroundings become overwhelming. Fred again.. later tested Delilah at a rave in New York, where hearing it played live helped him identify what still needed to change. He finished the track the following day while working in McCarren Park.

Chart Performance and the Actual Life Series

When Delilah was officially released in October, it followed Danielle (Smile on My Face), Bleu (Better With Time), and Kammy (Like I Do) as the fourth single from the album. Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) followed on October 28, 2022, through Atlantic Records, continuing the autobiographical concept behind the first two Actual Life albums while introducing more dance-focused material across the record.

The use of Montagu's recording also continued an approach heard throughout the Actual Life series. Across those records, Fred again.. used voice notes, videos, conversations and recordings from people in his life as source material, turning individual moments into complete songs while keeping the original voices at their centre.

Delilah later reached No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 12 on the UK Dance Singles Chart, while continuing to appear throughout Fred again..'s live performances after the album was released. Four years later, the track stands as one of the releases that best represents this period of Fred again..'s career, keeping the personal source material that had become central to his music while bringing that approach into the dance-focused direction that was becoming increasingly prominent in his work.