Ella Red – Religion

At just 22, alt-pop singer-songwriter Ella Red is redefining what it means to tell stories through pop music. Today, she releases her new single “Religion,” taken from her debut album, IT’S NOT REAL, out January 23.

Ella shares:

“There was a time last year, before I began writing my album, when I was so mad at my writing. I wanted lyrics that went deeper, melodies that felt like they were pulling at you, a song that properly expressed the depth of my love; I wanted a song like Hozier.”

On “Religion,” she leans into the tension between reverence and rebellion, crafting a track that captures the lyrical vulnerability and spiritual weight she has long admired.

IT’S NOT REAL traces the cyclical nature of beginnings and endings, weaving songs written as far back as Ella’s teenage years into a larger existential exploration. Ella reflects:

“There’s always been something all-consuming to me about humanity—our existence, the beauty and the mistakes. It’s eaten at me since I was a child and continued until it was almost unbearable in my late teens and even now. I wanted my music to feel as all-consuming as these episodes, and I feel like with IT’S NOT REAL, I’m telling more than my own story—I’m telling a part of humanity’s.”

The album brings together the sharpness and mythic world-building that have already become hallmarks of her songwriting. Tracks like “He Asked For It,” “Parasite,” “Predator,” “Aphrodite,” “Party Animal,” “Ball and Chain,” showcase her ability to move between softness and ferocity, a duality that resonates deeply with her listeners.

Raised on piano, guitar, and cello, Ella Red has long embraced both curiosity and experimentation, drawing influences from Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo while shaping a lane entirely her own. Her debut LP is at once intimate and expansive, a diary and a myth, bending time and collapsing boundaries.

#ellared