Three-time GRAMMY Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay will release his highly anticipated third full-length album, Leap, on July 8th.
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 & 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].
To herald the arrival of the record, he just shared a brand-new single entitled “One Life.” Bay previewed the single this week with a heartfelt note on socials talking about the inspiration behind the song – his relationship with his longtime girlfriend Lucy. On the song Bay said: “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.”
To announce the album and this next chapter, Bay shared a powerful letter on social media where he talked about his mental journey towards the making of this next body of work.
It arrives on the heels of “Give Me The Reason.” The latter has already gathered nearly 8 million global streams and right out of the gate, Rolling Stone detailed how the single captures “that feeling of being on the verge of letting go of someone, while looking for any excuse to give it another try.” NME dubbed it “bittersweet,” and mxdwn noted, “the song opens up with his iconic voice that ignites the listener.” “Give Me The Reason” was recorded at both Blackbird studios in Nashville and in London with producer Gabe Simon [Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, Calum Scott] and co-written with Foy Vance and features Ian Fitchuk on drums.
This summer James will be joining The Lumineers on their 2022 Brightside World Tour where he will be joining them on nine dates including Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on September 1st and Chicago’s Wrigley Field on September 3rd.