2020 May - MAHOGANY Home Session for ‘Distance’
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS
‘Charmingly calm and collected, Bayly coos to us while making his way through a quietly reserved town, as his transportation methods become smaller and more ridiculous along the way. Whimsical and sincere, it brings to life the scenery of "I'll Never Leave You". The beachy guitar licks juxtaposed with Bayly's richly emotive vocals paint a scene of a slower, laid-back life enriched with joy and affection. A California gem hidden in the heart of London.’ - EarMilk
‘A number of tracks also threaten to become anthems, with huge choruses bursting out of nowhere, showing that Alex Bayly is far from just a soft folk singer.’ - DIY Magazine
This beauty has a slick indie dream-pop vibe. Bayly touches on the feelings of paranoia and sleep deprivation while still managing to make it sound like a ray of sunshine. - Lost in the Manor
Clear Air Turbulence' feels effortless…dreamy vocals and tweaked guitars, 'Clean Air Turbulence' is reminiscent of work by the likes of S. Carey, matching a wonderfully beautiful surface to lyrical exploration” - Clash Magazine
“Alex Bayly's 'Clear Air Turbulence'...It's a soft, dreamy piece of guitar pop” - Clash Magazine
“The perfect song to settle you into the winter season. A little bit magical in its ambient and atmospheric synths and electric guitars, a little bit chilly in its glacial strings and warm and cosy in Bayly’s deep, rich, ethereal vocal. Bayly channels vintage folk influences in his music from the Nick Drake era, adding a contemporary twist that will appeal to fans of indie rock in the vein of The National and the contemporary folk stylings of Benjamin Francis Leftwich. A combination which is executed with a timeless beauty” - When The Horn Blows
Rich in his brittle but sweet vocals, Americana tinted guitars and soothing backing vocals...one you'll be having on repeat” It’s All Indie (Track of the Week)
“Gorgeous ethereal balladry” - It’s All Indie
“You can almost see Jeff Buckley” - Chill Filtr
Alex Bayly Bio
London, UK based Alternative-Folk artist Alex Bayly released 2021’s Skipping Stones four track EP the follow up to his 2019 debut album Ley Lines. He’s been featured on BBC Radio, Mahogany Sessions, Sofar Sounds, DIY and Clash Magazine and has previously performed at Glastonbury, Ronnie Scotts & The Lexington. His music regularly featured in playlists alongside artists such as Bon Iver, Laura Marling, Michael Kiwanuka and Nick Drake. During 2020 he did a lockdown home session for Mahogany with his song ‘Distance’ which saw a resurgence during the lockdown period. The song’s subject matter focuses on perseverance during times of hardship set against an organic acoustic folk soundscape.
He has an ear for beautiful melodies and a wistful chorus. Having cut his teeth on both London’s indie and folk scenes independently, his English folk roots add a unique depth to the tense, ethereal song writing.
He managed to squeeze one live show in the summer 2020 Wandsworth Park Summer Sessions one of the few live events of last year. Ley Lines (2019) received widespread support from Spotify, AmericanaUK, Fortitude Magazine, Atwood Magazine, BBC Radio, Alexrainbird, Indie Folk Central and The Sound Sniffer Blog.
His solo career began with the 2017 release of ‘New America’, with the title single gaining 90k streams and airplay from BBC Radio & Amazing Radio. ‘New America’ captured the melancholic atmosphere and organic instrumentation that would be a calling card for following releases. This was followed by a string of releases on two independent labels My Little Empire Records & Big Indie. Channelling the gorgeous ethereal balladry of Jeff Buckley and the off-kilter guitar work of Andy Shauf, ‘Wade In The Water’ combined angular, reverberant guitars with Bayly’s vocal which floats effortlessly between a low, earthy richness to a beautifully brittle falsetto. Between them they picked up support from the likes of Clash, It’s All Indie, Various Small Flames, Indie Folx, Indie Folk Central and radio plays from Amazing Radio and BBC Introducing.
The follow up single, ‘Clear Air Turbulence’, was premiered by Clash Magazine who said 'Clear Air Turbulence' feels effortless…dreamy vocals and tweaked guitars, 'Clean Air Turbulence' is reminiscent of work by the likes of S. Carey, matching a wonderfully beautiful surface to lyrical exploration”. More stripped back sonically, ‘Clear Air Turbulence’ creates a gorgeously emotive soundscape, with Bayly’s repeating delayed guitar line providing a perfect backdrop for a serenading piano hook and playful strings which swell towards the track’s soaring chorus. His warm and rich vocals are the final ingredient, blending perfectly amongst the noise. Taking its name from from his emotional response to the work of the late Iain M. Banks’ book Consider Phlebus, Bayly describes that “‘Clear Air Turbulence’ describes the overblown melodrama of the song. Bank's often dark space operas and novels conjure up so much conscious and subconscious meanings. But his books often end without a clear resolution.”
Bayly’s final release of 2018, ‘Distance’, nods to experimental and progressive artists past and present which have inspired him such as Nick Drake and Benjamin Francis Leftwich and picked up praise from When The Horn Blows, Turtle Tempo, Buzz Music, Sounds New Sounds Good, Talk About Pop Music and more. Lyrically the song muses over the effects of the human race on the world we occupy and each other. The chorus describes a haunting filmic moment as someone, perhaps a friend/lover, recognises the levity of the moment, ‘You look in the distance and you say, we can’t have it any other way.’
2018 saw Bayly play a run of successful gigs with his 5 piece band including headline shows at Rye Wax and Sebright Arms, gigs at the legendary Ronnie Scotts, The Finsbury, a slot supporting The Last Dinosaur and Jack In The Water at Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston and a Sofar Sounds sessions alongside Fatherson.