Chaos and the Calm by James Bay

12 Songs, 48 Minutes

EDITORS’ NOTES

James Bay has a voice like a knife. On his debut full-length, the nascent English singer/songwriter fulfills the promise of his early recordings with a collection of lushly arranged rock he recorded in Nashville alongside GRAMMY®-winning producer Jacquire King. The soulful “Let It Go” features a hypnotic guitar melody and stunning vocal performance, while shades of Bruce Springsteen can be heard in the windows-down rush of “Get Out While You Can.” Elsewhere, Bay’s voice cuts through the Fleetwood Mac–like swing of “If You Ever Want To Be In Love” with veteran aplomb.

EDITORS’ NOTES

	TITLE		TIME
	Craving		3:47
	Hold Back the River		3:59
	Let It Go		4:22
	If You Ever Want to Be in Love		4:00
	Best Fake Smile		3:26
	When We Were on Fire		3:59
	Move Together		4:37
	Scars		4:34
	Collide		3:24
	Get Out While You Can		4:41
	Need the Sun to Break		3:46
	Incomplete		3:41

About James Bay

A singer/songwriter with a penchant for crafting moving and evocative folk-pop, James Bay hails from the North Hertfordshire market town of Hitchin. Bay honed his skills regionally, eventually landing high-exposure support slots with Tom Odell, John Newman, and Kodaline before inking a record deal with Republic/Universal in 2012.

Bay soon began recording material, and charted the single "When We Were on Fire" in 2013. One year later, he landed a pair of songs in the British Top Ten; first, "Let It Go" peaked at number ten, and by the end of 2014, "Hold Back the River" hit number two (and charted in ten other countries). Bay's first full-length, Chaos and the Calm, appeared in March 2015, in time for him to play a handful of American dates, including showcases at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas. The album hit number one in Great Britain and Ireland, and debuted within the Top 20 in the U.S. During 2016, Bay earned a Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist, as well as Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Song for "Hold Back the River." He returned in 2018 with the emotive single "Wild Love." ~ James Christopher Monger