Lafayette, LA-born singer/songwriter Renée Reed grew up in an intensely musical home: a young Reed grew up on the accordion-bending knee of her grandfather Harry Trahan in the middle of countless jam sessions at the one-stop Cajun shop owned by her parents Lisa Trahan and Mitch Reed. And as a result, Reed wound up being surrounded by a who’s who of Cajun and Creole music legends — both backstage at the many festivals of Southwest Louisiana and at her family home. Reed also soaked up the stories and storytelling of her great uncle, folklorist Revon Reed and his brothers from Mamou.

Reed’s self-titled debut is slated for a March 26, 2021 release through Keeled Scales Records and the album will feature music that Reed describes as “dream-fi folk form the Cajun prairies.” Thematically, “this album is a collection of songs about toxic relationships, seeing ghosts, ancestral baggage and blessings, and daydreaming about love,” Reed explains in press notes. “It is about certain feelings and experiences I’ve had over my life coming to fruition in the past three years. It was all made on a four track recorder at home, in a place and in a way I feel most natural, and I believe that quality comes through in the sound.”

“Neboj,” the soon-to-be released album’s third and latest single derives its title from a Czech word that Cajuns pronounce as “nuh-boy” and represents the amalgamation of influences and cultures that inform Cajun music. Centered around a hauntingly sparse arrangement of delicately picked, looping guitar and Reed’s ethereal vocals, “Neboj” manages to be a self-assured yet vulnerable fever dream of full of earnest longing. Interestingly, for Reed the song is about letting go and not being afraid to fall in love, to just trust her heart.