James Bay - Electric Light

Rating:

An album that spotlights raw, physical emotions with confidence.

It’s the spring of 2015, a Hertfordshire lad in a fedora, armed with a guitar, debuts at Number One with ‘Chaos And The Calm’, a record that showcases what was to become a signature brand of saccharine, soul-driven pop.

Three years on, and James Bay is about to drop a second record set to completely transform his already powerful position. He’s binned that goddamn hat, donned a short, messy quiff and armed himself confidently in sparkles a la pop-defining legend, Prince.

If ‘Chaos And The Calm’ was love, ‘Electric Light’ is sex. It’s not a messy one night stand, though; you’d be a fool to think Bay was going to completely lose his romanticism.

While his debut was a compilation of passionate acoustic works, Bay 2.0 flaunts electronic R&B, spacey synth and chunky alt-pop guitar riffs fit for arena sell-outs. These tracks are interspersed with the sound that made him so popular in the first place, and rightly so. A dash of piano, bluesy guitar lines and gospel backings (‘Us’, ‘Just For Tonight’, ‘Slide’), ‘Electric Light’ is versatile artistry, tackling a common theme which is so often ignored of its complexities within pop music.