Singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay has announced that he will release his highly anticipated third full-length album, Leap, on July 8th. To coincide with the announcement, he has also shared his new single, “One Life” today. Listen to it now below.
Of 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.”
Pre-order and pre-save Leap HERE.
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. Read the letter below.
This summer James will also 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. See full dates below.
“In 2019 I was really struggling. I started writing songs to try and help me deal with fear, anxiety and problems with self-confidence. Feelings that run deep, that I’ve never wanted to share. Somehow, it all turned into some of the most hopeful and uplifting music I have ever made.
I didn’t realize I was only halfway through making my third album when I came across John Burroughs’ quote “leap and the net will appear”. It was in a book about creative rediscovery and those words really sparked something in me. I was reading it because I was lost, feeling worthless. By 2020 I’d written a new batch of sad songs. I recorded them and thought the record was done. Then suddenly the world shut down and I couldn’t tour my new music. All I could do was stay home and write more. That’s when the album really started to take shape. It turns out there is light to be found even in the darkest moments.
I spend a lot of time (too much time) tangled up in negative thoughts. It’s so easy to spiral. But during all that extra time writing, I decided to embrace my sadness rather than fight it and I began to recognize what lifts me up when things get tough. Suddenly I was pushing the boundaries of my writing in ways I never had before. I looked around at the people in my life that love and care about me the most and for the first time ever, I found a way to write from that emotion. I’ve always been afraid to go to those places, be that vulnerable; to say I love you, I need you and thank you in my writing.
It was so freeing to celebrate those people in my life that I love the most, that hold me up when I really need it. They’re the ones who give me the courage to go for it, to dare. When I can’t see the net, they give me the courage to leap.”
James Bay 2022 Tour Dates:
August 17th Tulsa, OK Bok Center
August 19th Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
August 20th Austin, TX Moody Center
August 26th Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
August 27th Charlotte, NC Spectum Center
August 31st Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
September 1st Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
September 3rd Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
September 6th Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena