Jonathan Bree EPK
Jonathan Bree

Bio:

“On the surface one might ask, ‘What’s sexy about Jonathan Bree?’ He’s 40 plus years old, he’s far from a pop star and he’s from 10,000 miles away, but when you get beyond the surface there’s something very sexy about Jonathan Bree…”
Nile Rodgers

The man behind the mask, Jonathan Bree has released his sixth studio album Don’t Call It Love - a double album spanning 17 tracks, which is an erotic concept driven work exploring sexuality and featuring collaborations with women across music, film, photography, and dance.

Jonathan Bree teams up with Parisian musician and actress Adah Dylan (ex-Bruises) on the newly released title track. Channeling Nico's detached energy, Adah displays an effortlessly cool female sensuality with total ease, landing somewhere between the worlds of The Cure and Grace Jones.

The album’s steamy standard was set with first single 'Live To Dance', featuring Princess Chelsea, which was accompanied by a strictly adults-only video which paid homage to Duran Duran’s The Chauffeur, featuring ballerina and cabaret artist Bella Filbey, whose exposed, erotic pose is the centrepiece of Don’t Call It Love’s striking cover.

“Jonathan Bree is… 100% the boldest and weirdest music video director working today”
Christopher Tarantino, Time Out New York

Don’t Call It Love plays like the sordid soundtrack to a hidden, velvet-lined bar in a dim basement - at times playful and seductive, and at times unsettling and confrontational. Bree’s new songs confront the full spectrum of sexuality and its emotional weight - an album that refuses to look away, wearing its heart quite literally on its sleeve.

Fans have already drawn comparisons in this new sound to the darkly nostalgic tones of New Order and Siouxsie & The Banshees, with Bree’s musical progression through the decades reaching its 80s-soaked, melancholic destination at last, a melodramatic masterpiece of sophisticated sleaze. Jonathan's trademark orchestral arrangements remain, this time pairing a stark, dark-leaning noir aesthetic with cinematic instrumentation and his brooding baritone.

“a mystery wrapped in an enigma”
American Songwriter

Don’t Call It Love is also Jonathan’s most collaborative album yet, with an extraordinary international array of women adding their unique voices to some of the album’s most pivotal moments. Fan favourite Princess Chelsea returns for two more tracks (Part-Time Lover & Slow); New Zealand’s best kept secret Rachel Clarke moves from intimate restraint to soaring intensity on dark art-pop single Savour My Love; French photographer and artist Eloïse Labarbe-Lafon on Chameleon, delivering a character-driven vocal performance, leaning into the lineage of Jane Birkin.

There are a number of firsts here for an artist six albums in - his first double album, his most guitar-led record, his most collaborative release, and his most unapologetically conceptual work to date. It won’t appeal to everyone, and it’s clear that Bree isn’t interested in softening it. As he puts it, “When mentioning it to my mother, I suggested she might want to give this one a miss.”

Bree is also well-known for his carefully crafted visual style; he and his band are never seen without their masks, an aesthetic on full display in the video for his breakthrough 2017 hit ‘You're So Cool’ which has amassed over 40 million views on YouTube (along with 30 million streams on other DSPs) and was voted Time Out New York’s music video of that year. He also gained prior recognition for his part on the massive viral hit by Princess Chelsea 'Cigarette Duet' (he both sang on it and directed the music video, which now has over 130 million views and over 150 Spotify streams). Gaining a cult following through extensive touring across the globe, Bree's anonymous, masked persona also extends to his live shows, where he and his band play against a backdrop of cinematic projections created specifically for each song as two dancers perform otherworldly choreography. [more]

Live videos:

'When We Met' (Live In London)


'City Baby' (Live In London)


Jonathan Bree - Live In Mexico City

Full concert film

Discography:

'Part-Time Lover' (feat. Princess Chelsea)

Digital single - Release date: June 18, 2026

'Savour My Love' (feat. Rachel Clarke)

Digital single - Release date: May 7, 2026


Don't Call It Love

CD/LP/Digital - 17 track album - Release date: August 2026


Pre-Code Hollywood

CD/LP/Digital - 10 track album - Release date: April 2023


After The Curtains Close

CD/LP/Digital - 10 track album - Release date: July 6th, 2020


Sleepwalking

CD/LP/Digital - 10 track album - Release date: May 11th, 2018


A Little Night Music

CD/LP/Digital - 10 track album - Release date: October 23rd, 2015


The Primrose Path

CD/LP/Digital - 10 track album - Release date (NZ): April 29th, 2013

Media Links:

Hi-Res Photos:

Hi-Res Cover Art:

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Bio (Continued):

A producer and musician best known for his cinematic brand of orchestral pop, Bree’s deep baritone and musical arrangements—which often feature sliding strings and chamber instruments such as the celeste, harp, and timpani—draw inspiration from classic artists like Lee Hazlewood and Serge Gainsbourg, but are reborn as something entirely his own. Bree's prior album was Pre-Code Hollywood and, while working on the album’s demos, Bree noticed a certain 1980’s aesthetic about them and sent a brave email to “The Hitmaker” Nile Rodgers, who produced David Bowie’s 'Let’s Dance' and 'China Girl.' The pair ended up collaborating on the album’s title track, as well as the standout single 'Miss You,' with Rodgers producing and performing guitar on both tracks, while Bree's longtime collaborator Princess Chelsea dueted with him on the latter.

Bree began his musical career at age 12 as the drummer in his adult cousin’s goth band. This was cut short when his mother sent him to live in Australia with his father, an aspiring cult leader. Bree subsequently left home at 14 and independently navigated his teenage years, eventually forming The Brunettes (Sub Pop) with partner Heather Mansfield, and touring relentlessly for much of the early aughts. Eventually, the frustrations of pursuing a traditional route to success pushed Bree to take a long break from releasing his own music, and focus instead on expanding his Auckland-based record label (Lil’ Chief Records), and producing/collaborating with other artists like Princess Chelsea. Bree returned to releasing music as a solo artist in 2013. And now with his latest entry in a line of impressive solo work, Bree and his artistry are even more striking and fully realized than ever on Don't Call It Love.

Email: thechief at lilchiefrecords dot com