- 2022-07-09
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ James Bay Releases New Album “Leap”: Streaming
British singer-songwriter James Bay released his third studio album “Leap” on July 8, 2022.
It is his first album in four years since the 2018 album “Electric Light”.
The album comprises 12-track, produced by Benjamin Rice, Dave Cobb, FINNEAS, Gabe Simon, Ian Fitchuk, James Bay, Joel Little, Jon Green and Sacha Skarbek.
The album title is named from a poem by American essayist John Burroughs: “Leap, and the net will appear”.
James Bay told Apple Music, “There's a shift on this album towards optimism and hope. Albeit a pretty realistic, bullshit-free take on hope. But that's the point: You can't achieve anything without taking a gamble. You've got to leap.”
Also, The project is dedicated to his daughter Ada, who was born last fall.
James Bay shared on social media, “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 mode. 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.”- RBOuZVuQA00
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He continued, “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.”-
James Bay explained of some tracks for the album.
“Give Me The Reason”
“I wanted this song to feel huge and emotional. It's about that moment when you feel like the sun is beginning to set on a relationship, it's about the fight to stay together. I want it to explode with energy when I play it live. It's about feeling your heart beat fast and love racing through your veins.”
“Everybody Needs Someone”
“In these last couple weeks before Leap arrives, I want to share one more song with you. It's called “Everybody Needs Someone. I love this song so much. I know in hindsight that despite lots of fun work and touring back in 2019 I wrote this song because I was feeling lost and alone. The feeling came like a quiet tidal wave. It really threw me around for a while. But thanks to the people closest to me in my life, I made it through that time. They know how to hold me up when I'm down. I hope you all love this song too. So excited for you to have it. x”
“One Life”
“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.”
“Brilliant Still”
“I wrote this song for that person, to remind them that for all the darkness, anxiety and despair that gets overwhelming, they're still as brilliant as ever to me. It's called Brilliant Still. Can't wait for you to hear all of it x”
“Save Your Love” via Atwood magazine
“That was one of the last songs written for this album. And another one was, “Give Me the Reason” which was the last song written for this album, and they came about in a similar way, but different sets of people.
And I had some good people in my life who were able to lay the situation out for me on the table and say, “You don't… Don't kick yourself so hard. It was a difficult thing, and you are okay.” So I wrote this song from their perspective to me, but also I wrote it to myself. “Save Your Love” is me talking to myself saying, don't waste yourself, don't spread yourself so thin. It's very easy for me to do that. I don't know why. I'm a bit of a people pleaser sometimes.”
“Silent Love” via Atwood magazine
“'Silent Love' makes me think about those times. And it's sometimes it's not really a song about me, sometimes it's a song about other friends of mine, who I know share this experience, you know? And there were so many moments. I think even when I was probably even younger, 12, 13, 14 years old, and there's the girl and there's the… Or there's this guy, who is just like desperate to get together with this girl, and he can't say it, because the group of friends, the politics, all of this. Those memories are often like a beautiful tragic movie in my mind, and so I try and put a song to that scenario that gives off the same feeling.”
“Endless Summer Nights” via Atwood magazine
“One of my all-time faves is the bridge in 'Endless Summer Nights': 'I wanna see you in the blue midnight, screaming and dancing in the gold flood lights, 'cause all I know is that I feel alive around you.' I love that. Now, what does the next bit do? 'Don't wanna let another moment slide, every second of the speed of light, 'cause all I know is that I feel alive around you.' I love that. I love a lot of the lyrics in 'Endless Summer Nights'.”
“Better” via Atwood magazine
“I love a lot of the lyrics in 'Better.' 'Oh we missed the last bus home, found a park bench for a throne, and the stars stayed out tonight, and everything's better. Everything's better. Everything's better as soon as you're next to me.' I love all that stuff.” - source : Apple Music
