Reynold Pereira (XRey) was born and raised in Singapore but home is now Barcelona, after having spent 12 years in France and Belgium. He’s been singing since the age of seven and also learnt to play the guitar, bass and the harmonica. Up until today he has shared his blues with musicians and bands such as: Howlin’ Bill (Belgium), Saïd Karume (Tanzania), Claude Hoffman (Luxembourg), Clinton Carnegie, Steven Rufus, John Chee, Gary Tan, Heritage, (Singapore) David Giorcelli (Spain) and many others. He has also had the opportunity to share great moments of blues and meet people like James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Robben Ford, John Mayall, Coco Montoya, the late Michel Petrucianni and Paul Orta amongst others. XRey has also played in national and international clubs and festivals, such as the Big Rivers Rhythm & Blues Festival in Dordrecht, Netherlands, Segoufielle Rock and Blues Festival in Toulouse, France, The Maitrank Festival in Arlon, Belgium, the Hard Rock Café in Singapore, the Mezz Café in Breda, Ain’t Nothing But The Blues in London, UK, the Mustang Café in Paris, the Crazy Elephant in Singapore, Kid’s Rhythm & Blues Café in Antwerp, Belgium and The Bone in Dallas, Texas. To date, XRey has performed in almost 500 concerts. He has also performed in various television and radio programmes like Radio & Television Singapore (RTS), Radio Ridderkerk (Netherlands) and WOS Blues Studio (Gravenzande, Netherlands) At the moment he has two blues albums; the first a four song demo recorded in Paris and more recently a full length all-original album called Déjà Vu which was recorded and mixed at Studio 338 in Brussels and mastered in Zen Mastering in San Diego, California. For the Déjà Vu album, he recorded with musicians like Saïd Karume (from Tanzania), Patrick Pletinckx, Mario Dragon and Jean-Marie Hammond (all from Belgium), Claude Hoffman (from Luxembourg) and Jean-Philippe Sauvegeot (from France). One of his songs has been featured in a cd compilation (Fiestajet) released in Belgium in 2006. Read the review from Rockin the Blues, Canada below: Apart from some excellent recordings I received by Australian rocker Rob Tognoni, Toronto expatriate, Pat Savage, and Belgian musician, The Flying Snowman (Eric Geurts) and his young protégée, Yanah, XRey’s Déjà Vu is a rare and welcome addition to my collection of modern European blues and blues-based rock music. The superb production was recorded in two days in May 2005 and mixed by François De Schryver and Fab at Studio 338 in Brussels, Belgium, and mastered by Paul Abbott at Zen Mastering in San Diego, California. This very tight band is fronted by song composer and harmonicist Reynold "XRey" Pereira (of Singapore) on vocals, Saïd Karume (of Tanzania) on a Jeff Beck Stratocaster guitar, Patrick Pletinckx (of Belgium) on bass and Claude Hoffmann (of Luxembourg) on drums. Guest players on the recording are Mario (Supermario) Dragon on blues harp (on “Jette Swing” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Party Animal”), Jean-Phillipe Sauvageot and Jean Hamonts doubling on keyboards (on “Brussels Blues”) and Fab on backing vocals (on “Juliana”). Reynold’s lead vocals are fluid and possess a strong but not abrasive timbre. The players are all obviously well-honed on their respective musical instruments as well. The CD opens with the catchy bass-heavy rock anthem, “Fighting on the Front Line”, and this is followed by the title track, “Déjà Vu”, a relaxing ’60s-sounding, psychedelized-guitar rocker (a signature sound throughout the CD) with layered vocals. Next up is the faster-paced funky jazz-blues heartbroken lament of “All Night and Day”, with guitar work similar to that favoured by Hamilton’s Frank Cosentino (an aficionado of the wah-wah pedal). “Psycho Man” is a hypnotically-swaying blues-rockin’ sway, along the lines of J.B. Ritchie’s interpretation of Muddy Waters’ “Champagne and Reefer”. The rapturous guitar work is outstanding on this track. The appropriately-titled “Jette Swing” is just that – a swing blues with a rockabilly feel to it, with the aforementioned harmonica accompaniment and the band retaining a sophisticated smoothness in delivery not unlike Montreal’s Beau Kavanagh and the Broken-Hearted. “Juliana” is initially played in a laid-back funky tempo (with a foreign-tongued intro), in its loving tribute to the much-titled (and now deceased) Dutch monarch, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, but gradually builds to a dynamic crescendo. Canadians could use a similarly updated nod to their own monarch, Queen Elizabeth, although Ken Baird has already created a classical ode to the Queen Mother on his charming “Victoria Day” (on Martin’s Road). “Norma Lee” is another rocker with prominent bass lines (and, indeed, a bass solo), clean but insistent guitar trills, and a driving backbeat. “Schapenkop”, a lighthearted two-minute-plus rockabilly snapshot owing heavily to Brian Setzer’s “Stray Cat Strut”, further demonstrates the band’s musical versatility and diverse influences. “Brussels Blues”, a slow-blues showcase with classic potential, is even more reminiscent of Beau Kavanagh (even though that band didn’t originate this mellow, smoky-voiced mix of blues, jazz and swing that I’m so fond of). The organic keyboarding by both Sauvageot and Hamonts deliciously complements the already-present talents of the regular band members – you’ll want to put this on “repeat” if you want an extended slow dance with your sweetheart. The CD ends with “Rock ’n’ Roll Party Animal”, which has a strong Kinks feel to it (e.g. “You Really Got Me”), but the rhythmic pattern is modulated somewhat to accommodate the progression from garage rock to psychedelic guitar. Déjà Vu might also be considered déjà entendu, but it’s still a great collection of music, harkening back to the days when music was still exciting.