James Bay on working with “hero” Brandon Flowers: “It was kind of terrifying – but that’s how it is supposed to be”
nme.comJames Bay has spoken to NME about ‘Changes All The Time’, his upcoming fourth album that sees “the guitars to come through more than they ever have done before” as he joins forces with Holly Humberstone and “hero” Brandon Flowers.Ahead of the album’s release on October 4 (pre-order here), the singer-songwriter opened up to NME about how he wanted to introduce more “freedom” into his songwriting this time around.“I wanted to get myself across in a more direct, truthful way,” he said. “They’re still songs that mean a lot to me and describe what I’ve experienced, but I wanted to come across as a guitar player too.“While I’ve always played the guitar in my songs, I’ve never really released music with guitar solos on.
So this time, I’ve introduced them into the songs more than before, and done it in a way where I can elaborate on them when I play live.”As well as pushing the boundaries of his songwriting, Bay also opened up about how he hopes an upcoming show at Wembley Arena – his first headline UK arena show to date – will help fans better understand him as an artist.Check out the full interview below, where Bay also opened up about his longtime friendship with Noah Kahan, inspiration from The Killers, and what sets Holly Humberstone apart from other new songwriters.NME: Hi James.
You’ve described ‘Changes All The Time’ as giving you a “taste of more musical freedom” than before. What do you mean by that?James Bay: “It’s in the sense that the focus was entirely around my experience creating and releasing music.
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