James Bay - Chaos And The Calm (Album)

It's to no surprise that this plastic square of goodness was going to make it onto my blog sooner or later. I haven't stopped tweeting about it (or him in that matter) and now I've got to grips with the full album and quite frankly absolutely love it.

Rewinding back from the present when James Bay is now living the high life, touring the world with millions of dans; it's always interesting to see how such artists made it from nothing into something. He most recently won The Brits Critics Choice Award even though he is such a newly-born and fresh artist and just 24 years old.

James Bay is a British born singer from Hitchin, Herfordshire, well known for his beautiful tones and fedora hat. He discovered music from a young age and as soon as he picked up a guitar, fell in love with the sounds and never looked back. 

Hitchin being a very small village, James Bay started to look for places that would appreciate his music a bit more by reaching out to a bigger audience. He began travelling over different cities to perform in open mic nights and at pubs to pursue his dream. It was one night he was performing at the Abbey Tavern in Kentish Town that he was finally discovered. A man in the audience filmed his performance, uploaded it to YouTube and the next day James Bay was landed a record deal with a company in New York.

If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.

I certainly couldn't wait to get my mitts on his album after literally (no joke) counting down the days and setting several reminders for the album release on 23rd March.

The album itself features twelve songs including Hold Back The River and Scars, whilst exclusively revealing new songs such as Craving and Incomplete. There are a LOT of strong emotions that are musically delivered to our ears in his sweet voice and I'm sure there's at least one song in which we can all relate to the lyrics. From being in a bitter relationship to having a dream that seems to distant; it's incredible how a song sung for millions can become so personal to our individual-selves.

I never usually buy music as I find a Spotify premium account does me just fine and even though I realised after buying the CD that the whole entire album was available on Spotify the same day; it's a nice feeling to know you are truly supporting an artist that you love.

The inside artwork is also BEAUTIFUL (slightly biased, I know) and inspires me so much for my own personal photography. The whole album is just pure gold and I haven't stopped listening to it since I got it. I've even managed to get my paws on two tickets for his UK tour later this year which I am SO excited about it. Whilst I think of it, I need to add it to my countdown app! 175 days to go!

Are you a James Bay fan? Any more music recommendations for me?