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; james bay "electric light" album review

            Hi, it me.

I'll cut to the chase. I'm not the kind of person who has listened to James Bay's entire discography, but I know several tracks from his last album and love them so much, and his voice gives me chills as does his face. So I wanted to give this newer album a listen.

I had planned to do this album shortly after it was first released, which was now quite a while ago it feels like. But earlier today (Friday, Feb. 22) he dropped a song called "Peer Pressure" with Julia Michaels, and it's......literally everything. So I decided to finally make the leap and listen to this album.

I've been told that this album won't have the same vibe as "Peer Pressure" or even his first album, but I'm fine with that. I love hearing how artists can evolve. So bring it on.

This is a completely first-listen review. I've never heard a single track before, even though I know I've seen "Pink Lemonade" and maybe one other one released early. So yeah.

Let's go.

01: INTRO

This is...interesting. I love how the last ten seconds or so there's this beat that continues to get louder. I bet if I let it play into track two they'll connect beat-wise, and I love when albums do that. I feel like I just watched the world's shortest movie, and I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Comet (one of my faves) but like...this intro track literally felt like the final scene in that movie. No joke. It's actually uncanny how perfectly they fit. Anyway, I'm intrigued and excited to keep listening but won't be doing favorite lyrics since there weren't any (also won't be rating it because it's not a song), so let's keep going. The "hold on, let's go back" bit is. Chilling.

02: WASTED ON EACH OTHER – 8/10

Was definitely right about the beat carrying over. What an interesting vibe to follow that introduction. This is a lot edgier than I'm used to from him, but maybe I just haven't listened to enough of his stuff. I like the effect on his voice during the verses, almost like we're hearing him sing this live. I also feel like we'll see this on a commercial for some new crime drama TV show in the coming years that has two attractive leads who will obviously eventually end up together. But there's action and intrigue and danger. That's what this song makes me think of mostly. It'll probably be a grower for me! I tend to enjoy him most when he's less angsty. Favorite lyric: Everybody calls us foolish / they don't know how foolish tastes

03: PINK LEMONADE – 8.5/10

Wow, okay. Another vibe I wasn't expecting. Is this whole album going to be super edgy? Because that's not what I expected after the intro track. This is so oldschool! There's something in the chorus I've heard before – not exactly, but like, it's a familiar feeling. I don't want to keep saying the word "vibe" but it's most applicable there. I don't know if this is something I could listen to all the time, but I like it more than the last one. And when I want a very specific sound, I know this has it. Very fun, very oldschool. Favorite lyric: And let's remember all the words that we think are gonna make our hearts break

04: WILD LOVE – 9/10

I'm so shook! Because once again I wanted to comment on the vibe! I enjoy this a lot. Something about it reminds me of Bleachers a little, like "Wake Me" or "Reckless Love" or something. I'd love to hear this acoustic though, without all the vocal effects even though I enjoy them. Like, I want both versions. If they make Leah on the Off Beat into a movie like Simon got, then I hope they put this in the soundtrack to continue with that whole aesthetic. Favorite lyric: I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine