Cat Rea: from darkness into light

25th Aug 2021
Tags: Music News Cat Rea Joshua Luke Smith Pop

London-based singer Cat Rea released her debut single “Freedom Reign” on the 31st January 2020. This track has been added to our xRhythms playlist.

Featuring rapper Joshua Luke Smith, the track in question is calling upon the feeling of freedom after a long time stuck chasing the wrong things, “Let freedom reign, and the melody sing/ That I got joy, and peace, and love, I'm free again…”

Originally from Middlesbrough, Cat is no stranger to music as her father is a musician, one of her uncles is an opera singer, and another uncle is Chris Rea, writer of hit Christmas song "Driving Home for Christmas". 

In an interview with Cross Rhythms, Cat has opened up about her upbringing and her story. “My parents divorced when I was 15; that hit me really hard. From then on I would find affirmation or security in different things. I was drinking a lot of alcohol and dabbling in different drugs, having different boyfriends. I was trying to find that security in those things.”

She also discusses how she went to church during her time growing up and how that time in church helped her get out of the dark situation she was in, spawning the story that she tells in the song.

God's love for me never fails.

 “When I hit 25, 26 I was living in Turkey with a guy addicted to alcohol and drugs,” she recalls, mentioning Ichemeler as the town where she was living, which is why it’s in the song. “I remembered those sermons and those people telling me that God's love for me never fails, it doesn't matter where I find myself. And I remember saying 'God, if you're still there, if you still love me, I want to be in a relationship with you. I want you to come into my life and help me because I feel hopeless.' It was almost like sobering up. It was a sense of me having a different head on, it was so clear.”