James Bay has announced his upcoming album ‘Changes All The Time’, and dropped the star-studded lead single ‘Up All Night’. Check it out below.
READ MORE: James Bay – ‘Leap’ review: self-assured songs about satisfaction
Revealed today (July 19), the project will mark the fourth full-length LP in Bay’s catalogue, and follows on from the singer-songwriter’s ‘Leap’ album, which arrived back in summer 2022. It is set for release on September 20 via Mercury/EMI and available for pre-order here.
To celebrate the announcement, the guitarist and vocalist has shared the lead single from the release – ‘Up All Night’, starring contributions from Noah Kahan and The Lumineers.
The single comes as a huge anthem, and sees the trio powering through their personal woes to ensure that they make the most of life. It gradually builds on the percussive groove, before exploding into the feel-good chorus and climaxing with a soaring guitar solo.
“‘Up All Night’ is all about navigating the great weight of all the stuff that plays on our minds and keeps us awake at night,” Bay explained. “I have some great history with Noah and The Lumineers. We manifested this collaboration for a while, and I feel proud we could make it happen!”
Both Kahan and Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz also recalled what it was like to join forces with the singer-songwriter for the first time. “It was an absolute honour to be asked to join this amazing song. James and The Lumineers are some of my biggest inspirations and getting a chance to jam out with them on this one is a total joy,” said the former, while the latter described him as “a powerful singer and musician” and said the band felt “honoured” when asked to contribute to the track.
Check it out below.
As for the album itself, ‘Changes All The Time’ is set to showcase Bay’s evolution as a guitarist and as a songwriter, and push the boundaries of his sound into new horizons.
It is comprised of 11 tracks, produced by Gabe Simon, and also comes with an impressive array of co-writers. These include The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers, Holly Humberstone, Semisonic’s Dan Wilson and more.
“Making this album felt like my first taste of true musical freedom,” Bay added. “With the help of my co-producer, Gabe Simon, I found the courage to make what I wanted to make in ways I never have before. That’s a very hard place to get to, I’m really excited to release this music.”
Check out the full album tracklist and artwork for ‘Changes All The Time’ below.
The ‘Changes All The Time’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Up All Night’ (with The Lumineers & Noah Kahan)
2. ‘Everburn’
3. ‘Hope’
4. ‘Easy Distraction’
5. ‘Speed Limit’
6. ‘Talk’
7. ‘Hopeless Heart’
8. ‘Some People’
9. ‘Go On’
10. ‘Crystal Clear’
11. ‘Dogfight’
James Bay ‘Changes All The Time’ album artwork. CREDIT: Press
To mark the news of the new material, Bay recently returned to the Late Night With Seth Meyers on the 10 anniversary of his late-night television debut. Here, he performed the first rendition of ‘Up All Night’.
He has also joined Kahan on stage at Madison Square Garden as part of the latter’s sold-out headline shows, where they played ‘Stick Season’ during the first night. The performances followed on from Bay’s huge opening slot at Bruce Springsteen’s BST Hyde Park headline show last year – which also saw a set from The Lumineers – as well as various sold-out shows around the UK.
Next year, Bay will hit the road once again when he embarks on a run of UK tour dates. These kick off with an opening night in Glasgow on February 1, and are followed by dates in Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin.
It wraps up with a final slot at the OVO Arena Wembley in London on February 13. Tickets go on sale next Friday (July 26) – find a list of shows below and visit here to buy tickets.
James Bay’s 2025 UK tour dates are:
FEBRUARY
1 – Glasgow, O2 Academy
4 – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
5 – Leeds, O2 Academy
7 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
8 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
10 – Dublin, 3Olympia
13 – London, OVO Arena Wembley
In other James Bay news, towards the start of the year, the ‘Hold Back The River’ singer made an appearance at the launch of the new Gibson Garage in London.
Appearing at the event alongside rock royalty Jimmy Page, Brian May and Tony Iommi, he took to the stage at the guitar shop in Soho for an exclusive, intimate performance.
“As a musician, even just holding a guitar for the first time was transformative,” he said at the time. “Then there was the first picked melody, the first blisters on my fingers, and still I went back for more. It’s something I’ll just never tire of.”
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