Originally from Oxfordshire and based in London for the last eight years, Rea is a singer-songwriter and keys player whose music fuses nu-jazz, alternative, and prog-pop/rock into something entirely her own. Classically trained in piano and violin, and long considered a kid with “so much potential”, she grew up under the weight of perfectionism and the need to be “good”, until she realised that people-pleasing only made her disappear. Her songs are what happened when she stopped.
Her debut EP Anybody Else? (currently being released track by track) is part confession, part funeral. Five songs that pry perfectionism from cold, dead hands. The first single, Anybody Else?, set the tone with wry humour and open self-discovery. The follow-up, Miss When You’d, arriving 29th August, pulls listeners into sun-soaked nostalgia and unspoken desire. Across the project, she’s honest about dancing with the devil, indulging in what’s “bad” for her as much as what’s “good”, and wrestling with how those two points on the spectrum are entwined and co-dependent.
Her sound is lush yet raw. Sophisticated arrangements built on real instruments and groove-driven energy, with vocals that shift from intimate confession to fierce explosions. Produced with Lucas Loftus and Will Bassett, and mixed by Oli Barton-Wood, the EP brings together a close-knit group of musicians from London’s thriving jazz scene, a community she’s been part of since her days at Goldsmiths University.
Rea has performed at iconic venues including Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s and Servants Jazz Quarters, earning a reputation for magnetic live shows that fuse jazz, pop, and alternative styles into something unforgettable. Earlier this year she released Take Your Time, a groove-heavy nu-jazz/pop anthem about emotional release and unapologetic confidence.
Phoebe Rea doesn’t sing songs. She performs exorcisms. This is music for the outsiders who stopped apologising. For anyone clawing their way out of the boxes they never fit in. Falling from grace. Landing on her feet.
Phoebe Rea 