Interview with Elliot James Reay

We had the pleasure of interviewing Elliot James Reay over Zoom video!

23-year-old singer, guitarist, and songwriter Elliot James Reay returns with the irrepressibly upbeat new single, “Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin.” The soulful cut is built on an old school premise: Reay’s partner fears he’s been unfaithful when really he was just out dancing the night away. The song’s music video brings that scenario to life and pays homage to the Northern Soul dancing scene still thriving in Reay’s hometown of Manchester, UK. “Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin” is available now at via Interscope / Island EMI.

For his fourth song to date, Reay reunites with writer-producer duo SOAP (Manchester’s Josh Noble and Karl Ziegler) alongside fellow cowriters Annielle Lisiuk and Glen Roberts. With deep bass groove, sharp guitar stabs, jangling tambourine, and driving drums, “Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin” is itself a powerful enticement to dance. Horns and strings only add to the urgency as Reay growls, quavers, and coos out his passion for movement: “It’s a shame she doesn’t get it, a shame she doesn’t see / It don’t make me a traitor and it don’t make me cheat / You can try to stop the music, but you can’t stop my feet / Just give me a bourbon, a bass line, and a beat.”

The music video for “Who Knew Dancing Was A Sin” finds Reay in the hot seat after he comes home late. He’s suited up and visibly disheveled as a nightgown-wearing woman gives him a piece of her mind. Through thrilling flashbacks, though, we see the truth as Reay cuts a rug amidst a group of passionate dancers kicking, spinning, and shuffling in a red-curtained club.

Reay’s new tune further leans into the young artist’s loving embrace of ’50s and ’60s music, and follows March’s “Daydreaming,” a swooning single infused with cinematic grandeur and eerie longing. Before that came the upbeat and stylish “Boy in Love,” with a video shot on the streets of his hometown, and the massive breakthrough “I Think They Call This Love,” which enthralled millions around the globe with Reay’s refreshing revival of a classic rock ’n’ roll sound.

Influenced from an early age by artists like Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley, Reay now channels that pioneering era of culture into his music to incredible effect. A truly sensational debut, “I Think They Call This Love” has amassed over 150 million global streams, earned 400 million views across 120,000+ TikTok creates, climbed Spotify Viral Charts in over 27 countries, and helped Reay build a loyal fanbase of more than 5 million followers. The song also marked the arrival of a fascinating new talent who, clearly, has much more to share.

ABOUT ELLIOT JAMES REAY:

Elliot James Reay has a genuine, lifelong love for not just the music of the ’50s but the entire era and he has the voice, look, and magnetism to seemingly transport his fans back in time. But a close listen to his intoxicating forays into doo-wop and rockabilly reveals decade-hopping flourishes, knowing nods, and the occasional bent melody or distorted peel of guitar that would’ve caused uproar in Billy Fury’s Day. Instead — and despite those who told him he’d need to change his sound to succeed — Elliot’s grown a huge fan base via modern means, organically amassing over 4.7 million followers and hundreds of millions of views across social media platforms.

Reay grew up listening to all kinds of music in the town of Bury, outside of Manchester, but he was drawn to the old stuff from an early age and took it farther than most, thrifting for vintage clothes and busking the town center as a teen. As the crowds grew, so did his confidence, and after earning more than £2,000 in a single day fundraising in the wake of the 2017 Manchester tragedy, Elliot realized the power he had to reach others. He was only 15 years old back then, and ever since he’s been working on bringing his velveteen voice to an expanding audience whose appreciat