Vocalist Aléa Lorén radiates a healing energy brought about by her own restorative journey and infuses powerful conviction into her neo soul artistry. She describes her music as “soul, R&B, jazz, conscious, reflective, inspirational slaps.” Her live performances both empower audiences and inspire them to dance.
Born into a musical family in Portland, Oregon, music captivated Aléa as a young girl. She sang her first solo when she grabbed the church mic and sang “He’s Alright with Me” on key before she was even two years old. She was constantly immersed in music as her father served as the minister of music, and her mother sang and majored in music at Howard. “Everybody loved watching my father direct the choir because he had so much energy,” she fondly recalls. Her parents also had foster children, so she “grew up in an environment with multiple inherited siblings” and a total of eleven people in their household. Her two brothers Alvin Johnson, Jr. (keyboard) and AJ Johnson (drums) also pursued music and now play in her band.
As Aléa grew older, she fell in love with gospel music (taking inspiration from Karen Clark Sheard of the Clark Sisters) and consistently sang in church service.
Aléa’s musical experiences outside of church are also part of what gave her confidence to set out as an artist. As a teen, Aléa sang in the choir at Thomas Jefferson High School, a highly regarded arts magnet school. Later, friends from Jeff were some of the greatest champions of her budding music career. She had toured with community gospel choirs Kingdom Sound and Das PHAT. She is also passionate about theater, having performed in Showboat with Portland Opera in 2015, Rent with Portland Center Stage in 2022, and Black Nativity with PassinArt annually for the last several years.