Cleo Reed is one of the most groundbreaking new voices to emerge from the American underground. The multidisciplinary artist moves between blues, soul, country, hip-hop, and electronic music, while drawing on a deep connection to her African American cultural heritage in her captivating songs. This October, Cleo Reed comes to ALICE with music from the ambitious double album “CUNTRY”.

American artist Cleo Reed – aka Ella Josephine Julia Moore – grew up in New York and Washington D.C. and has an impressively wide-ranging musical background, from jazz and classical music at the Harlem School of the Arts to playing in the New York punk band Pretty Sick and studying sound engineering and sound design at Berklee College of Music. This breadth is reflected in Cleo Reed’s music, where she naturally draws on a wide range of genres while exploring the connections between art and questions of identity, heritage, and contemporary life.

Cleo Reed’s latest album, “CUNTRY” (2025), was highlighted by Pitchfork and NPR Music as one of the most important releases of 2025. The first half of the album is deeply rooted in American roots music, while the second half opens into electronic and dystopian soundscapes. The contrast creates a musical narrative that is both personal and political, unfolding themes of labor, physicality, identity, and social contradictions through poetic and uncompromising songs. The two sides also mirror the tension between Cleo Reed’s upbringing in New York and her family’s roots in the American South. Cleo Reed has established herself as an exceptional live performer, bringing together musical virtuosity, performative presence, and profound emotional intimacy to draw audiences into an intensely close encounter.