A Chat with Conner Reeves (30.07.2025)
Interview with Karen Beishuizen (guest contributor)
Conner Reeves is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1997 album, Earthbound, and the hit single, ‘My Father’s Son’. After 27 years, he will release a new album, which is only his second: Ten Thousand Days and The Church of the Restoration. We chat with Reeves about his career, his first album, his 27-year absence, his new album, and more.
Did you always want to be a singer/songwriter growing up?
Reeves: Yes, I did, Karen! I knew from an early age what I wanted to do and started making up music as soon as I got my first keyboard at around age 6. And music is still as mysterious and fascinating to me now as it was way back then..
Who were your idols as a teenager?
Reeves: My idols as a teenager were mainly soul singers – Donny Hathaway, George Benson, Michael McDonald, as well as Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, of course (weren’t they everybody’s idols?). I was obsessed over the soul/gospel singing style, making sure I could eventually do every run that my heroes did, which often drove my family (mum, dad and 3 brothers) totally nuts..
Your debut album, Earthbound, and the hit single ‘My Father’s Son’ were critically acclaimed all over the world. Did you expect this, and how did it make you feel?
Reeves: It was a dream come true for me to have an album out in the world, and I was a bit surprised to receive such a positive reaction, if I’m honest, especially when Whitney Houston’s people asked me to open for her on her European Tour!
Why did you drop off the face of the earth after such success and decide to resurrect 27 years later? You are the first to do that.
Reeves: I always try to follow my heart, and after a very wild ride on the pop star rollercoaster, my heart told me to get off. Go be father to my new-born son and carry on doing what I love doing the most which was writing songs for the joy of it and not just for the very narrow parameters of a record company’s agenda, so that’s what I did and after what seems like another lifetime of being back in the ‘real’ world (around 10,000 to be precise..hence the album’s title) I now have a bunch of songs I feel really proud to share with everyone again.
Are there any artists out there you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
Reeves: As I wrote and produced most of this album on my own, I have kind of got used to ‘flying solo’ creatively these days. I love the freedom to follow ideas where they lead me. If I do collaborate, it works best if they leave the lyrics and melodies up to me, as I have never really found anyone else who seems to care as much as I do about that department! Having said that, there are some great American writers/producers I would love to collaborate with. Robert Glasper, who did a great production and string arrangement on a song I wrote with Billy Porter for the film Our Son. Also, I have a few songs up my sleeve which would make great duets, and I would love to get Yebba to sing with me on one of those. That would certainly work for me, and I wish Amy and Whitney were still around because they would have definitely been on that wish list, too!
Tell me about your new album, Ten Thousand Days and the Church of the Restoration, out on 29 August. It’s only your 2nd album. How did the process go, and how did you come up with such a great title?
Reeves: Well, it’s a collection of 16 tracks: 10 whole songs and 6 segues/interludes, which help with the flow as it’s a bit of a musical journey. It passes through all areas of the soul/gospel/hip-hop and even country terrain (wherever following my heart took me creatively). It’s quite a trip, I believe. My hope is that it will drop like a pebble in a pond and create positive ripples out there in the world, touching and hopefully uplifting and inspiring those who connect with it. And as one of the interludes states, “If I touch one, then I’m done…”
The title takes lyrics from the song Bones (’10,000 days pass in one frame..’ ) and nods to the the gospel-tinged vocal arrangements throughout the album (the Church part) and the Restoration part refers to putting something back as it should be, which for me is me stepping back up to the mic as an artist with a whole new album in my hands.
Double A-Side Single ‘Bones’ / ‘The Sweetest Invasion’, what are the songs about?
Reeves: ‘Bones’ is about the rapid passage of time and how toxic patterns can steal away that time from us, and before we know it, it’s too late and there’s nothing left to waste. ‘The Sweetest Invasion’ is a pure, straight-ahead love song. It’s about how walls built by pain can crumble once the heart has been overrun by true love.
How does it feel to be back after 27 years, and will you stay this time?
Reeves: It feels weird but also right, if that makes sense, haha. Weird because now it really matters what I look like again (as a songwriter for other artists, you can happily stay in the shadow, which I had sort of gotten used to) and right because I know this is my soul’s purpose. I feel like I am a better writer and a better singer than I have ever been before. And with a wealth of life experiences/observations/adventures to draw from, I think these songs are some of the best songs I have ever written. And I am definitely planning on sticking around. There are many more songs I already have stashed towards the next project, and lots and lots of new ones I can hear knocking on my inner door demanding attention and completion. So it certainly will not be another 10,000 days until the next album. Promise!
Thanks to Conner Reeves for speaking with us. Find out more about Conner on his official website, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and Spotify.
