James Bay has vowed to wow fans with his second studio album.
The ‘Hold Back The River’ hitmaker has been back at home in Hertfordshire, England working on his follow-up to last year’s hugely successful ‘Chaos and the Calm’ and says the record, which featured the hits ‘Let It Go’, ‘Scars’ and ‘Best Fake Smile’, is just the cusp of what he’s capable of.
Speaking to the London Evening Standard newspaper, he said: "I absolutely have to top it. I see ‘Chaos and the Calm’ as round one and that was setting the bar.
"Round two needs to beat it on all levels. Someone said to me recently, ‘We’ll see you soon in arenas’, and I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely – no question."
The 26-year-old troubadour-wearing star says that his ultimate goal is to perform at arenas.
He added: "That’s the aim and it’s up to me to make it really."
James’ new album is likely to be released in 2018, and the musician has been making the most of his time in the studio, having spent the last two years on tour.
Although James relished his time on the road, he is loving the challenge of writing new material.
He recently shared: "We toured [‘Chaos and the Calm’] for a very long time and I really enjoyed it.
"The only thing that made me feel a bit negative about it towards the end was that I love those songs, but I really wanted to pepper them with new material. So that’s what I’m doing now and I’m having a pretty fantastic time doing it."
And while James is already missing touring, he said recording new music is a similarly exciting experience.
He explained: "I miss touring. It’s an amazing experience, an amazing adventure. Every day, everything is new. You’re playing to new people win a venue you’ve never seen, in a new town – and every time you wake up, things outside the window are different from how they were before. I do miss it a lot.
"But right now is an equally exciting new journey, making new music. Every time I make new music I always think, I’m going to make a live set out of these new songs soon, and I can’t wait to get on the stage and perform them."
James Bay vows to wow fans with second album
