Start Listening To: Re Teu

The art of interpretation in Re Teu's music.

Hailing from the vibrant city of London and shaped by formative experiences in Nottingham, Re Teu, is getting ready for his upcoming debut EP The Author. At the heart of this EP lies a captivating invitation: to become "The Author" In doing so, Re Teu encourages his audience to actively engage with his music, lending their own interpretations and experiences to the songs. As you'll discover, each track is a canvas upon which emotions and stories can be painted, making the listener both reader and author.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

My name is Emric aka Re Teu (Ree Two) from London and starting as Re Teu in Nottingham! The music is a strong combination of Ambience, Folk, Rock and Alternative influences all blended together to make these songs I like to call stories.

We love your upcoming debut EP The Author. Can you share more about the inspiration behind its narrative journey and how it unfolds in your music?

Appreciate that a lot! I've always referred to the songs I create as stories. They can be about myself and others that have affected me in some way or another. I then like to take these events to a place like a camping trip or surf or something and start fleshing out the sound. Helps me clear my mind and write pure.

The EP explores a range of emotions, from vulnerability to defiance to surrender. Could you delve into some of the specific experiences or moments in your life that influenced these emotional compositions?

It is hard to link songs I've written to one specific thing, I like to hold onto an emotion and  when I write  I put all the times that I felt that way into it. An example with The Author title track being acceptance and letting go, can be with relationships, friendships, moving on in life. But I also enjoy leaving it vague so listeners can add their own interpretation and make the songs their own.If you listened carefully though you could make out what song is about what feeling.

The EP invites listeners to interpret and assume the role of "The Author"; What led you to create music that encourages such active engagement and interpretation from your audience?

It was just a realisation that each song is a story and whoever caused the listener or writer to feel that emotion can either be the reader or the author. The author can be someone's loved one, past relation, friend. Emotions are complex and can be expressed in many ways like words on a page.

You have a background in Interior Design. How does this creative profession intersect with your music, and do you find any parallels or connections between the two?

I always find the two intersecting with each other. When designing I like to imagine specific feelings in materiality, colours and temperatures. And the same goes with music, it could be a warm guitar, a cold ambient synth... Imagine you are standing on a mountain or deep in a forest with smoke. It frees me creatively and lets me look at things with multiple perspectives.

Are there any artists or bands that you dream of collaborating with in the future?

There are so many that I feel like wouldn't just make a good song but really open my eyes to look at things in new ways. Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Dermot Kennedy, Holly Humberstone, Sleep Token, Hozier, Talos, SIA just to name a few.

As an artist, what message or feeling do you hope to convey through your music, and what do you aim to evoke in your listeners?

Calmness is okay, rage is okay, passion is okay. Use it for good. Channel it.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

A lot of songs when I was a child were my parents, so being the excited little kid I just danced and boogie to likes of Micheal & Janet Jackson, Queen, Kool & The Gang, Chaka  Khan ETC with some national african artists such as Emmerson, Magic System and so on. They give me good nostalgia and pick up the mood. But I didn't really start listening to my own music until mid 2000's onwards, so from there listening to Ben Howard, Bon Iver, Paramore, Alexisonfire, Linkin Park and so many more was the real start of learning what I love and I'm still listening too.
Basically, For Emma, Forever Ago. I Forget Where We Were, Crisis, Thriller.

What do you love right now?

That I'm releasing music again and Liverpool is playing better. (This better not jinx it)

What do you hate right now?

Negativity, Tories, Bounty.

Looking beyond the EP release, what are your future goals and aspirations as an artist, and what can we anticipate from you in the coming months or years?

My two goals for my entire music career, be they small or big, is to be nominated for a Mercury Prize Award and to play a full orchestral set at the Royal Albert Hall. But until then we push on the next few months with some special shows, performances, videos and writing the next volume...