James Bay on new album Leap: "For the first time ever, I'm writing from a place of vulnerability"

officialcharts.com:

On July 8, James Bay will release his first studio album in over four years. The lengthy gap between his last LP Electric Light and upcoming record Leap is something James neither anticipated nor wanted, though it certainly informed the eventual narrative of his work.

Now, as James announces a UK tour that'll see him perform nationwide this winter, Official Charts catches up with James to discuss how his struggles shaped his most 'vulnerable' record yet.

Aside from the global pandemic hitting pause on his plans, James explains the album evolved lyrically and thematically throughout the writing process; the outcome being a collection of twelve tracks showcasing James at his most open-hearted. "Nearly four years isn’t the kind of gap I’d ever envisioned; I’d have loved to have been putting music out more often than that," he tells us. "The album has taken so many twists and turns, brilliant ones, since the first time I thought I’d finished it in 2020." Explaining how his 'struggles' informed the record, James says: "It evolved a lot.

I always appreciate and understand that a lot of my music leans into sadder themes; heartbreak and struggle. It had come from all sorts of different places on the first and second albums. "In truth, when I went into writing a third album, I felt a bit lost.