James Bay Confirms July Release For Third Album 'Leap', Posts New Single One Life
Friday, 13 May 2022
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: PC Julia Broad
James Bay has announced his third studio album.
The follow-up to 2018's 'Electric Light' is called 'Leap' and will arrive on July 8 via EMI Records/Republic Records. It was written in person and during remote sessions in Nashville and London with Dave Cobb, Ian Fitchu, Foy Vance, Joel Little, and Finneas.
Introducing it on social media, Bay shared an emotional letter that reveals his mental health journey around creating the new LP:
"In 2019 I was really struggling. I started writing songs to try and help me deal with fear, anxiety and problems with self-confidence. Feelings that run deep, that I’ve never wanted to share. Somehow, it all turned into some of the most hopeful and uplifting music I have ever made.
"I didn’t realize I was only halfway through making my third album when I came across John Burroughs' quote "leap and the net will appear". It was in a book about creative rediscovery and those words really sparked something in me. I was reading it because I was lost, feeling worthless. By 2020 I'd written a new batch of sad songs. I recorded them and thought the record was done. Then suddenly the world shut down and I couldn’t tour my new music. All I could do was stay home and write more. That’s when the album really started to take shape. It turns out there is light to be found even in the darkest moments.
"I spend a lot of time (too much time) tangled up in negative thoughts. It’s so easy to spiral. But during all that extra time writing, I decided to embrace my sadness rather than fight it and I began to recognize what lifts me up when things get tough. Suddenly, I was pushing the boundaries of my writing in ways I never had before. I looked around at the people in my life that love and care about me the most and for the first time ever, I found a way to write from that emotion. I’ve always been afraid to go to those places, be that vulnerable; to say I love you, I need you and thank you in my writing.
"It was so freeing to celebrate those people in my life that I love the most, that hold me up when I really need it. They’re the ones who give me the courage to go for it, to dare. When I can’t see the net, they give me the courage to leap."
To accompany the news, the 31-year-old has shared a heartfelt new single, One Life, which finds him returning to the stripped-back, acoustic guitar-driven sound on his 2015 debut LP 'The Chaos And The Calm'. It follows March's single Give Me The Reason, which serves as a tribute to Lucy Smith, the singer-songwriter's longtime girlfriend and the mother of his daughter Ada, who was born in October 2021.
He said: "This is a song I wrote about me and Lucy. We first got together at 16 and have been together ever since. She’s supported me since day 1. From open mic nights, right through to my biggest shows. It’s been one adventure after another, but now we’re on the biggest one of all. Raising our beautiful daughter Ada."
James Bay has headline shows and festival dates scheduled throughout the summer, including appearances at Neighbourhood Weekender and Barn On The Farm. He also has European and North American dates in the diary.
'Leap' tracklist:
1. Give Me The Reason
2. Nowhere Left To Go
3. Save Your Love
4. Everyone Needs Someone
5. One Life
6. Silent Love
7. Love Don’t Hate Me
8. Brilliant Still
9. Right Now
10. We Used To Shine
11. Endless Summer Nights
12. Better
James Bay Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Fri May 13 2022 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Sun May 15 2022 - PERRANPORTH Watering Hole
Sat June 11 2022 - WORCESTER Racecourse
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