DAVID REA

David Rea is a journalist who writes about the intersection of music, culture and history. He is the founder and editor of State of Sound.

LATEST

ESSAY

‘Please Please Me’: How the Beatles sang about sex and got away with it

The Beatles could only break America by conforming to its prudish sexual attitudes. But did Lennon and McCartney have the last laugh?

By David Rea

28 February 2026

MAKING A MASTERPIECE

‘Like a long dead ghost trying to make contact’: how Wilco made Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Involving Cold War spy recordings, drug addiction and music industry landmarks, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been called a fable and a masterpiece. David Rea does a deep dive into the plots and subplots which created the band’s greatest album.

16 May 2026

NICK DRAKE

THE REMAKING OF NICK DRAKE: Is the complex artist finally stepping out from behind the ‘doomed genius’?

The new box set The Making of Five Leaves Left illuminates a focused and forthright artist at his genesis, and further undermines the idea he was an isolated, haunted romantic.

by David Rea

25 October 2025

Black and white photo of a young man with curly hair leaning against a brick wall, wearing a dark blazer and a light shirt, with hands in his pockets, looking to the side.

MAKING A MASTERPIECE

‘It took a unique kind of courage’: how Son House beat the odds to make a masterpiece

On the 60th anniversary of its original release, we look at how Son House made Father of Folk Blues for white America.

By David Rea

18 October 2025

Album cover of Son House, an African American man in a white shirt with a black bow tie, holding a guitar, with text indicating it's a record of folk blues music.