The Setlist & The Script

From the moment Elliot James Reay’s croon hits your ears, you’re transported somewhere golden-lit and sepia-toned, a place where jukeboxes flicker in corner booths and teenage hearts beat to the pulse of doo-wop harmonies. But this isn’t mere pastiche. On All This to Say I Love You, the 23-year-old Mancunian proves he’s more than a nostalgia merchant. His debut EP is a six-track testament to young love’s feverish highs and swooning lows, delivered with a sincerity that cuts through any stylistic costume.

The opening salvo, “I Think They Call This Love,” is the track that first turned Reay into a viral sensation, racking up over 120 million streams on Spotify and spawning a billion views on TikTok. Listening now, it’s easy to hear why it connected so widely: the song pairs Elvis Presley-style vocal tremors with modern pop polish, evoking that first flush of romantic conviction. Its yearning hook, equal parts innocence and grand ambition, sets the tone for the entire project.

“Boy In Love” and “Daydreaming” are where Reay leans into his gift for retro flourishes without slipping into parody. “Boy In Love” spins a stormy backdrop of reverb-drenched guitar and driving percussion, like a teenage Roy Orbison tumbling headlong into a Manchester downpour. “Daydreaming,” meanwhile, trades swagger for vulnerability, all gentle guitar flickers and lyrics that drift somewhere between hope and heartbreak.

The EP’s most recent single, “Who Knew Dancing Was a Sin,” celebrates Reay’s Northern Soul roots with a buoyant groove. You can practically see the talc-dusted dancefloors of old Wigan Casino come to life in his voice. It’s one of the liveliest moments here, testament to Reay’s knack for making vintage influences feel utterly alive rather than embalmed.

But it’s “Sweetness” that most clearly signals Reay’s next evolution. Reuniting with the production duo SOAP and cowriter Annielle Lisiuk, he’s crafted a lush, slow-motion reverie that fuses Old Hollywood romance with contemporary production sheen. The accompanying video, directed by Nikko LaMere, is a Technicolor daydream, vintage suits, fluttering curtains, and the first time Reay introduces a love interest on screen. There’s a self-awareness to it all, but no cynicism. Reay’s music is earnest in a way that feels rare: a young artist who loves his influences too much to ever mock them.

Closing track “I Can’t Stay Away” finds him at his most direct. Over swooning backing vocals and a yearning melody, Reay confesses the magnetic pull of a love he can’t shake. It’s a fitting finale to an EP that circles one subject from every angle, the rush, the ache, the devotion.

Part of Reay’s charm is that he isn’t hiding behind a stylised façade. Though he wears his thrifted 50s suits with pride, there’s no sense he’s play-acting. His fascination with the era runs deep, growing up in Bury, he scoured charity shops for records and clothes, busked his heart out in the town centre, and used the money he raised after the Manchester tragedy to fuel his musical ambitions. He was 15 when he first realised music could connect him to something bigger than himself. Since then, he’s built a following of over 5 million, proving the universality of his vision.

All This to Say I Love You doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t need to. Reay is a classicist in the best sense, reanimating the spirit of the past with a vitality that feels undeniably now. These songs don’t just nod to history, they invite it onto the dancefloor, spin it around, and make it blush all over again.

If this is only the beginning, there’s every reason to believe Elliot James Reay is just getting started.