Six Years Of Jay James’ Album, ‘Play It By Heart’

Guest writer Helen Gray reflects on six years since Jay James released his debut album, ‘Play It By Heart’.

6 years on…

On Monday, 27th August 2012 Jay James (then Picton) released his very first album Play It By Heart!!

Not being aware myself of this incredible artist until 2014 when he appeared on the eleventh series of The X Factor, I missed out of 2 years of supporting him and listening to this incredible album every day.

Nowadays I don’t go a day where I don’t listen to this album, you probably think I listen to nothing else…not the case! I love my music and listen to all kinds of music most of the time, but when you find an artist so honest so soulful and extremely passionate about what they create –  it blows my mind.

At the time Jay was signed to Decca, and you can see the track listing below:

Another Man (intro)
Long May They Roll
Play It by Heart
Nothing at All
Gravity
Almost You
You’re the Sea
Spiders
Heads vs Hearts (featuring Booker T. Jones)
Sunshine
Gone
Someone That’s Real
Oh There She Goes
Closing Time
The Boy That Wants to Fly

Usually reviewers would write about each individual track, but I would much rather people have a listen and create feelings and thoughts themselves of each track. I‘d love to hear what people think of them. I want people to know about Jay and his incredible voice, his music, and his mind-blowing creativity, because to me, the opinions of their fans matter to an artist with what with they do more than anything. Jay is now working independently, and has a PledgeMusic campaign, which you can find here.

I encourage you to listen to ‘Play It By Heart’ and if you enjoy it, then please come and support him. I know Jay would love your support!

You can listen to the full album here on Spotify:

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

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