JAMES BAY - Leap LP

Label: Republic

Though he’s never been afraid to share his deepest feeling with his audience, with Leap, James Bay has crafted his most introspective album to date. Pairing this candour with an increasingly nuanced sound, it’s a fine vehicle to deliver the album’s over-arching message of hope borne of the difficult times we’ve all just been through. Bay proclaims this as “the most positive thing” he has ever written, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t scope to tackle difficult subjects, providing an insight into the Grammy-nominated artist at his most vulnerable.

The album’s 12 tracks act almost like a journal for the musician, exploring personal battles with self-esteem, loneliness and the struggle to persevere when it feels like all hope is lost, but crucially and unusually it also pushes through to the other side and the healing, joy and contentment found at the top of the mountain. Inundated with moments of both outright despair and newfound optimism, it becomes immediately apparent that the theme of raw, unadulterated honesty is held with the utmost importance throughout ‘Leap’.