Bay reveals the inspiration behind his third album
Three-time GRAMMY Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay recently released his third major label album, Leap, via Mercury/Republic Records. The project showcases his hypnotizing lyricism and instrumentals.
For Leap, Bay worked with some of the most sought after producers and songwriters in a mixture of in person and remote sessions in Nashville and London, including Foy Vance (Ed Sheeran), Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton), Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves, Brett Eldredge), Joel Little (Lorde, Taylor Swift) & Finneas (Billie Eilish, The Knocks).
Bay recently chatted with members of the media to discuss the project, which was released on July 8th. In an hourlong virtual press conference, Bay shares insight into the making of the album including how he discovered his vulnerability with his songwriting.
“It’s not as scary to be more vulnerable with my lyric writing — my songwriting. It’s not as scary as I thought it was,” he says. “What I mean by that is I’ve gone to kinda a new depth of reality with regards to what I say in my songs. Ninety-nine percent of my songs are written from a very personal experience. And I was always writing kinda in a more abstract way, I think — definitely on my first album, sometimes on my second album. Because I was always afraid to kinda just say it, whatever thing may have been that I was writing about. I’ve tried to do that a lot more this time because I wanted to face the fear that I felt I had. So I discovered, it’s not quite as scary. It resonates with people and music is about connecting. That’s what I love about music, and I feel like it’s helping do that even more with my music.”
He adds, “There’s something a little more freeing about not having to kinda chase down the best analogy or metaphor. As much as I love those, I think you find those in poetry a lot.”
Bay puts a lot of importance on growth within his songwriting. He cites his heroes for inspiration.
“For me, to be direct in what I’m trying to say as a lyricist is important, but I have to acknowledge delivery — not just what is said, but how it’s said is so kinda paramount in songwriting for me. There are some brilliant songs in existence where the lyrics are so conversational, it feels like they were just taken from a conversation and placed in a song, and I admire that, I always do. I like to have an amount of that if I can.
“When I think about maybe Paul Simon, Carole King, or — I’m trying to think, there’s some really classic writers who just deliver, often with kinda an artistic license — they deliver words so well. They’re never overly busy. I’m naming a lot of classics, here, but when I think about when Bill Withers said ‘Lean On Me’ and the way he said it and the way he kinda surrounds that notion in that song — or what he surrounds that notion with — it’s beautiful, it’s moving, it’s to the point. It’s also to the point. So when those things line up — when those kinda stars align in the lyrics of the song and the melodies, that’s when I feel like I’m doing some kind or some version of improving. It’s first impressions count whether we like it or not so I’m trying to hit people first time, really like (hits chest) right there, because that’s what my favorite music does to me, it moves me (snaps) immediately. You know, when you go, ‘Oh, my goodness’ sort of thing . That’s what I’m kinda looking for and looking to do as I go on to write and write more. That’s my ambition and that’s what I kinda call improving, but it’s a subjective beast. I am trying to improve.
“As a Bruce Springsteen fan, and I adore his first two, maybe three albums before Born To Run, but there was some kind of improvement that happened when he put Born To Run out. I think that’s what you have to call it, even though it’s slightly sorta subjective. So I’m trying to chase my heroes’ achievements.”
Bay is currently supporting The Lumineers on their 2022 Brightside World Tour where he’s joining them on nine dates through September 6th. He will also headline his own select dates through the fall.
