The romantic ideal of being a touring musician is wonderful: hitting the stage each night, seeing new places, the camaraderie of being surrounded by your friends, and enjoying the space to be creative whenever the mood takes. Yet that’s often not the reality. But it’s something that The Vamps star and confessional singer-songwriter James McVey relished when he toured with Henry Moodie earlier this year. It was a time of such inspiration that he wrote and recorded an entire set of songs on the bus, while waiting for soundcheck, or late into the night after gigs. Today he shares those songs with the release of his second solo EP ‘Letters Home’.
James says, “I wrote and recorded this EP over a few weeks on tour a couple months ago. I had no plan to make this EP and no idea these songs would come to me on the road. These songs mean so much to me and I’m over the moon that you’re connecting with them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for breathing life into these songs.”
As we’ve discovered from the EP’s previous singles, the process inspired a period of intense reflection within James’s songs. First, ‘All The Things’ presented a tender rumination on the small things in life that you only realise are important when you’re apart. And then the stomping folk-rock singalong ‘Thick And Thin’ remembered those defining moments that come as your life-long friendships are cemented.
Those themes continue with the EP’s new focus track ‘Hold On To The Times’. It’s a song of peaceful reflection that remembers those who have been lost along the way of life’s journey: the connection you once shared is now nothing but a photograph and a memory, yet the impression that it made upon you will always shape you in some way. Its instrumentation builds as the song moves to its conclusion, its brighter tone signifying that although mourning doesn’t fully pass, it becomes balanced by an appreciation for what you had.
‘Letters Home’ is completed by three other new songs. ‘State of Mine’ examines the precarious tightrope of the ups and down of mental health struggles; ‘Hate How I Hurt You’ hold nothing back as James expresses immense regret for things that now can’t be changed; but the grander, anthemic sound James presents on ‘Eyes Closed’ ends on the uplifting note that perhaps love can be forever.
Collectively ‘Letters Home’ presents a compelling insight into James as a person and an artist. Its songs feel natural and unhurried, while its stories take us deeper into the man behind the musician after last year’s acclaimed solo debut EP ‘Manabi’.
James will be back on tour with The Vamps in September. Phenomenal public demand saw every show quickly sell-out, resulting in three additional dates being added. But expect his solo adventures to continue soon.
‘Letters Home’ EP tracklist:
1. ‘State of Mine’
2. ‘All The Things’
3. ‘Thick and Thin’
4. ‘Hold On To The Times’
5. ‘Hate How I Hurt You’
6. ‘Eyes Closed’
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