THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “James Bay is a musician’s musician: The U.K. singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer upholds traditions of timeless songcraft while confidently challenging himself and popular music in equal measure. He spikes a tried-and-true style with clever lyricism, honest confessions, and instrumental proficiency.
This year, he returns with his fourth album Changes All The Time. The album includes collaborations with Noah Kahan and The Lumineers on lead single Up All Night and features writing collaborations with The Killers’ Brandon Flowers (Easy Distraction), Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Natalie Hemby of The Highwomen and Holly Humberstone (Dogfight).
Changes All The Time spotlights Bay’s elevated songcraft and dynamic vocals as well as his fret-burning guitar playing, highlighting his evolution from every angle. This time around, he crafted these 11 tracks under the watch of producer Gabe Simon (Kahan, Koe Wetzel, Maren Morris). “Making this album felt like my first taste of true musical freedom. With the help of my co-producer Gabe Simon, I found the courage to make what I wanted to make in ways I never have before. That’s a very hard place to get to, I’m really excited to release this music,” says James.
About Easy Distraction, he says, “The song is about realizing too late that someone means so much to you, but you still want to show them and let them know. It’s exploring how, in the face of adversity we can still reach out, we can still connect. I found out from a mutual friend that Brandon was interested in writing with newer artists, so I jumped at the chance and went to work with him in Park City, Utah over in America. It was an unbelievable experience and insight into writing with one of my heroes. I hope we get to do more!”
Easy Distraction represents another “bucket list” moment for Bay, who cites The Killers among his biggest inspirations. Together, he and Flowers penned a powerhouse track bound to resonate with both of their respective audiences. An upbeat guitar riff drives the song over a shuffling drum groove punctuated by his gritty delivery and swooning backup harmonies. It builds towards a hummable guitar solo drenched in reverb and emotion as he pleads, “For every mistake, I’ll give you my hand. Just promise to hold it wherever we land.”
It follows the fan favourite Up All Night with The Lumineers and Kahan. Abounding with all the gusto of a last-call singalong, the song surges to life as an upbeat, foot-stomping anthem tailormade for the best of times with friends and family. A percussive groove sets the tempo as Bay ignites a chant on the chorus, “Let’s talk about dreams, let’s talk about life, let’s talk about all the things that keep us up all night.” At the same time, Kahan and The Lumineers fuel the celebration with full-bodied backing vocals. Fittingly, Up All Night climaxes with a soaring guitar solo buoyed by a boisterous gang harmony.
On the heels of his platinum-certified 2015 debut Chaos And The Calm, Bay garnered Grammy nods in the categories of Best New Artist, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song for the gold single Hold Back The River. Meanwhile, Let It Go went triple-platinum. Nominated for dozens of awards, he took home two BRIT Awards, two Q Awards, and top honours at the Ivor Novello Awards and ECHO Awards. With nearly nine billion streams to date, he has performed on Saturday Night Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers and more. He has notably dueted with numerous musical icons like Alicia Keys, was asked to join Mick Jagger while supporting The Rolling Stones at Twickenham Stadium in London, joined Sheryl Crow on stage after performing his own set at Eric Clapton’s 2019 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, and opened for Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park in 2023.
