James Bay: Chaos and the Calm 180g Vinyl LP

Why you'll love it

This EU pressing comes on 180g vinyl in a gatefold jacket, with a lyric inner sleeve and a download card. The album debuted at No. 1 in the UK with more than 64,000 copies sold in its first week, and earned Grammy nominations for Best Rock Album and Best New Artist.

This edition

180g vinyl
Gatefold jacket
Lyrics included
Download card included
Pressed in the EU

About the album

Plenty of singer-songwriters turn up with a guitar and a hat. James Bay turned up with a guitar, a hat and a voice with real grit in it, plus a set of songs that sound built for big rooms. For his first album he worked with producer Jacquire King, known for his work with Kings of Leon, and a tight studio band of Ian Fitchuk on keyboards and drums, Eli Beaird on bass and Eric Darken on percussion.

"Hold Back the River" is the big one, a stomping, soulful chorus that picked up its own Grammy nod for Best Rock Song. "Craving" kicks things off with a rush of guitar, "Let It Go" strips everything back to a tender, close-up plea, and "Best Fake Smile" and "When We Were On Fire" lean on Bay's love of classic rock and old soul records. Michael Brauer mixed it and Bob Ludwig mastered it, so the quiet moments sound as warm as the loud ones.

It's a debut that wears its heart on its rolled-up sleeve, all big choruses and late-night confessions. The hat, we understand, is sold separately.

Also at Kops: more James Bay on vinyl · browse Singer-Songwriter