When vintage sound meets Gen Z soul, you get All This to Say I Love You — the dreamy debut EP from Elliot James Reay that dropped today and is already selling out venues faster than a vintage leather jacket at Brick Lane Market. The 23-year-old from Bury, Greater Manchester is bringing rock ‘n’ roll romance back in a big way, and frankly, we’re swooning.
50s Fever, But Make It 2025
Think Roy Orbison in a Gucci ad campaign. Reay’s sound is soaked in 50s and 60s influences — crooning melodies, doo-wop echoes, swooping strings — but there’s a wink to the camera that makes it feel current. Produced with Manchester duo SOAP (Josh Noble and Karl Ziegler) and songwriter Annielle Lisiuk, the six-track EP is lush, cinematic and, most importantly, packed with feelings.
Each track circles themes of longing, desire, and the kind of all-consuming young love that makes you scribble lyrics in your notes app at 2am. Reay has called it his “love letter to love itself,” and it shows — this is heart-on-sleeve pop with a vintage gloss.
The Standouts: ‘Sweetness’ & More
Released alongside the EP is a stunning video for ‘Sweetness’, a slow-burning ballad that takes the listener into swoony, Old Hollywood territory. Directed by Nikko LaMere, the video is full-on Technicolor fantasy, complete with a love interest (a first in Reay’s visual world) and vintage tailoring that would make even Elvis blush.
Previous singles like the jittery ‘Boy in Love’ and Northern Soul-flavoured ‘Who Knew Dancing Was a Sin’ add up to a debut that manages to be both cohesive and dynamic. ‘Daydreaming’ hits with moody, reverbed-out yearning, while the song that started it all — ‘I Think They Call This Love’ — remains the fan favourite. No surprise there: with 121 million streams and over a billion TikTok views, it’s basically Gen Z’s version of a modern-day prom theme.
A Gen Z Idol with Old-School Heart
Reay’s appeal goes way beyond the music. It’s the full package, the voice, the vintage suits, the slicked-back hair, the deeply online fanbase who’ve been following his rise since his busking days in Bury. There’s an authenticity here that’s rare. He didn’t clean up his sound for the charts, he leaned harder into it, and the fans came running.
His grassroots beginnings (including raising £2,000 busking after the Manchester Arena tragedy when he was just 15) give him real-life weight, and his ability to tap into timeless emotions with a retro lens feels refreshing in a music scene often obsessed with whatever’s next.
Sold-Out Shows, Already
If you’re hoping to catch Elliot live this summer, good luck. All four of his July UK dates sold out in under 24 hours — from the intimacy of The Louisiana in Bristol to the already-iconic London gig at Omeara on 11th July. It’s the kind of fever pitch you don’t often see for a debut EP, but when it hits like All This to Say I Love You, you get it.
06.07.25 || Manchester || Gorilla *SOLD OUT*
08.07.25 || Birmingham || O2 Academy 3 *SOLD OUT*
10.07.25 || Bristol || The Louisiana *SOLD OUT*
11.07.25 || London || Omeara *SOLD OUT*
Elliot James Reay isn’t trying to be the next big thing… he already is. All This to Say I Love You is the kind of debut that feels like an arrival and a promise. A throwback sound that somehow feels totally now, it’s proof that sometimes, looking back is the boldest move you can make.
Listen to All This to Say I Love You now.
Watch the ‘Sweetness’ video above.
And if you’ve got tickets to his sold-out July shows — we envy you.
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