Hat’s off for the new Bay
He’s cut his locks and put the fedora in storage, but James Bay is still making hits
James Bay
Let It Go and Hold Back The River made a star of James Bay after just two single releases in 2014. Chaos And The Calm was the second bestselling debut album by a male artist in the UK in 2015 after Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour. He became instantly recognisable in his dark fedora hat and long hair, looking like Johnny Depp circa Benny & Joon.
It’s the age-old dilemma for an artist after such a meteoric rise, whether to twist away from expectations or stick to the tried and trusted on the second album.
The 27-year-old singer from Hertfordshire, who will play Live at the Marquee in Cork on Wednesday, chose the former. The hat was stored, the tresses were trimmed and for Electric Light, James Bay became just a bit more experimental. ‘There is always that little bit of a conflict of course,’ he says.
‘When I made my first album, I didn’t have any fans. I made it for me in the hope that a few people might like it and I might build something by word of mouth. Instead, I got this incredible reaction. The second time around, I still wanted to do the same thing, to make an album that would excite me.’
The approach that excited him seems to have found favour with those fans. Electric Light has already gone top twenty in dozens of countries including Ireland, the UK and also the US, where he received three Grammy nominations for Chaos And The Calm.
‘It has definitely meant a sonic shift, but I also have many fans now that care very deeply about my music and who I love very dearly,’ he says. ‘So yes, I do have
to take in to account what they love about me and my music. That thought process culminated in Electric Light.’
Wasted On Each Other is a psychedelic rocker that doesn’t sound remotely like the same artist that crooned huskily on Chaos And The Calm. Pink Lemonade is an anthem with a retro Eighties feel and Stand Up just develops and builds in to a glorious wig out. Bay sounds emboldened.
‘I love hearing people’s opinions from people such as yourself and fans and when they “get” what I’m trying to convey and appreciate the music that is just so satisfying,’ he says.
‘After the success of Chaos And The Calm of course it was going to be quite daunting to follow it up. All I could do was just take a deep breath and get down to work. After all the touring to promote Chaos And The Calm I didn’t even take five minutes to put my feet up. I didn’t feel the need for relaxation and rest; I can do that when I’m 85. When I got down to work, it was as if the music was already there waiting. Then it just came tumbling out. After five or six months, I had written all the songs, took two months to produce it and then it was ready to go.’
The album, Bay says, is predominantly about the need for unity and his desire for humans to connect in much more meaningful ways. ‘It speaks of a desire for togetherness of human beings in a world of mad technology and devices that separate and divide us,’ he says.
Bay felt the need to ‘shake things up’ in relation to how he is perceived. Hence the Hitchin man is mostly hatless these days and it’s symptomatic of his change of approach. ‘As I said earlier, because of technology, people seem to think they know everything and yes it was a conscious decision to shake things up and change the way I look physically,’ he says.
‘It was a part of me questioning whether people still felt something for the music. I want to move people with my music and I want to be moved by what I hear. Image has always gone hand in hand with pop music, I know that.
‘So, I wanted to use that change to also signify a progression, to signify a natural reaction to where I’ve come from and to show I’m on a new part of the journey, but I am still the same singer; I am not going to be exchanging my voice box for a different one.’
James Bay – Electric Light is out now. He plays Live at The Marquee in Cork on Wednesday.