REA’s alternative folk sound is distinctly her own, blending earthy textures like flowing rivers, rainfall, and birdsong with poetic lyricism. Yet there’s a comforting lineage here too, evoking the tender spirit of artists like Bon Iver and Adrianne Lenker. Produced by Josh Harrison (The Cure, Royal Blood, Lovejoy), ‘Garden Shed' captures a sense of timelessness that is at once delicate and powerful.
Opening track 'Talk' — REA’s first single released earlier this year — sets the tone with its bittersweet reflections on unspoken goodbyes. Her silky vocals drift over soft acoustic layers as she laments a relationship left unresolved, admitting, "You’ll never hear me out / And we’ll never talk about it." It's a gentle but piercing beginning, balancing vulnerability with quiet strength.
'Henfield' follows, offering a vivid snapshot of rural transience and the disorienting pull between roots and reinvention. REA's knack for everyday details — "Small talk and LinkedIn" — grounds the track in reality, even as her melodic phrasing feels dreamlike and other-worldly. There's a sense of surrender here, of learning to "get used to it," even when certainty feels elusive.
On 'Outside' the EP takes a more abstract turn. With sparse instrumentation and hypnotic repetition, REA captures the loneliness of feeling disconnected from one’s own mind. It's a song that lingers like an unanswered question, highlighting her gift for evoking emotional complexity with minimal means.
Closing track 'Dark by 4' is perhaps the EP’s most poignant moment — a gentle elegy to childhood memories and the slow, irreversible march of time. Lines like "Ring the door / Rub your feet / ‘I swear you’re taller / Each time we meet’" evoke a clear, vivid image that feels deeply personal yet universal. The final line, "I don't know what life is for / Where you are," lands with a quiet devastation, offering no easy resolution, only a deep, resonant tenderness.
With 'Garden Shed' — and a triumphant release show at St. Augustine’s Church in the heart of Brighton — REA is quickly establishing herself as an artist of rare sensitivity and vision. There’s an extraordinary kind of magic in these songs: the kind that blooms quietly but leaves an indelible mark.
REA will also be performing alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday 3 May for Brighton’s Spring Festival at St. Ann’s Well Gardens, before performing twice at TGE with PLATFORM B and MXTR after her triumphant sold out show at St Augustines.
Olivia Judd
@oliviacjudd
@oliviacjudd
Image: Ciara Delaney
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