Don’t we all love an old soulful sound from a
young musician, with deep, thoughtful and beautiful lyrics? The deep resounding
baritone voice of George Ezra, the elegant and emotional voice
of Sam Smith, the breathtaking distinctive and powerful doleful gospel sounding
voice of Hoizer, and the amazing powerful and emotional voice of Adele.
Now 24 year old hat wearing, model looking,
singer and traditional song writer from the little English town of Hitchin in
Hertfordshire, channeling his cherry vocals and acoustic guitar with a fresh sound
and a timeless quality in songs like “scar” and “hold back the river”. Singing
to this lad comes naturally and easy and his writing on songs like “stealing
cars” and “hold back the river” is captivating.
At eleven years of age, inspired by Eric
Clapton’s “Layla” James Bay dust down the family classical guitar and played in
his room for hours. Bay later moved to Brighton where he performed in pubs and
gained a lot of education on writing and performing from “Brighton Institute of
modern Music” and from the city’s “Open Mic” Performances. He later caught the
attention of Republic Records after a fan uploaded a video of him performing in
a local pub on YouTube. In a week he was signed to the label, joining artists
like Florence and the Machines and Lorde.
With a soulfully emotional and whispery voice
in reminiscent of Sam smith but a little earthly and bluesy combined with
traditional songwriting that tug on heart strings, it’s no wonder Bay scooped The British Critics choice 2015
award previously won by Adele, Jessie J,
and Sam Smith. Bay has wrote and recorded in Nashville and this is evident in
his sound.
“Chaos and the Calm” James Bay’s debut album
released on March 23rd is an album that’s got heart. The album reflects
on romance, hope, fear, the past the present and the future. Bay truly shines
on album as he channels his confessional lyrics to listeners in a heartwarming
and emotional fashion. Songs such as “let it go” explore the struggles in
maintaining a relationship despite changes around. “Hold back the river” a
personal favorite, with James’ voice being spectacular; it literally gets you
shivering with passion and sincerity. The song is well written with whole
hearted lyrics. “Scar” another standout track on which is a desperate admission
of vulnerability and dependence. Other tracks on the album include Craving, if
you ever want to fall in love, best fake smile, when we were on fire, move
together, collide, get out while you can, need the sun to break, incomplete. On
Chaos and Calm, Bay is comfortable and intimate with listeners, the album is
very genuine and leaves up to the attention currently heaped on Bay.
James Bay has already performed live at the
Burberry runaway and also recorded a Burberry acoustic. He has been invited to
open tours for artists like John Newman, The Rolling Stones, Hoizer, Kodaline
and his own concerts sold out. He has been highlighted as a rising star by
Spotify, yahoo, Next Big Sound, MTV, and the list goes on. Bay is indeed one
great musical promise, but one wonders if the hat will still fit two years or five
years from now, will Bay Live up to the hype, will we still be graced with his
great sounds years from now. We can’t tell but he has all it takes to; great
soulful voice, impeccable traditional skills and he sure has the looks. The sky
is the limit for this small town dreamer.
I recommend these James Bay songs for your Listening pleasure
- Hold back the river
- Scars
- Stealing Cars
- Move together
- Waiting in line
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