As heard on his recent debut solo EP 'Manabi', James McVey enjoys the freedom of working independently: his timeless singer-songwriter style is the vehicle to express a sea of emotions and introspective thoughts, with his voice sounding stronger never. a year after he underwent career-saving surgery.
Now she takes that creative liberation a step further with the release this summer of her upcoming EP 'Letters Home': five songs that were written and recorded while touring Europe with Henry Moodie in early 2024. He presents the EP by sharing his first song, 'All The Things'. Listen BELOW:
The product of a lost home, 'All The Things' shows how such an instantaneous process can so naturally capture the feeling of the moment. With no time to overthink or complicate things, James gets right to the heart of what he wants to express: an unvarnished romance with a poetic touch. The music is just as warm and tender: a stripped-down style elevated by sparse, carefully considered production flourishes.
And when you write in such a relaxed way, your collaborators tend to be whoever you are with at the time: in this case, your regular co-writer and live band member Alex Stacey and Henry Moodie, of 'drunk text' fame. .
James says, “'All The Things' was written and produced on the tour bus between shows. It all started at the front of the bus with Alex. The chorus came pretty quickly but we wanted to get it a new set of ears. I called Henry from downstairs and he started humming tunes. Before we knew it, we had the melody in verse. Alex and I worked on the lyrics for the next 24 hours and two days later we added them to our tour set.
The song refers to the feeling of leaving the person you love and recognizing all the things you take for granted when you are apart. I thought there's no better place to try it than in the audience on tour. Writing, recording and performing a song in a few days is something I have never done before. “It was extremely liberating and inspired us to continue writing while on tour, which ultimately resulted in the ‘Letters Home’ EP.”
The rest of the 'Letters Home' EP mixes acoustic confessionals, loud folk-rock and some more layered alt-pop songwriting, all while saying the things you might want to say in the moment but then avoid in the studio. Following the slower evolution of 'Manabi', 'Letters Home' further underlines how much James has to offer alongside his chart success with The Vamps.
James' month-long tour as a special guest of Henry Moodie followed his sold-out debut at Hoxton Hall. He is currently on the road for his first full tour and has already completed four shows, including a date at Lafayette in London. The remaining tickets are available. HERE.
CAN
10 – Manchester, Institute for the Deaf
12 – Glasgow, King Tuts
15 – Colonia, YUCA
16 – Amsterdam, Melkweg (up)
'Letters Home' EP tracklist:
'Everything'
'I hate how I hurt you'
'Against all odds'
'My state'
'Hold on to the times'
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