BAILEY JAMES

                                                            "The Crow" 

                                                            Independent Release

To try and put Bailey James into a box is a near impossible task. Her music fluidly walks between several different genres and encapsulates all she’s influenced by to give her a unique edge that keeps you wanting to hear what’s going to come next because you never really know.

Though she hit the Billboard Country charts with her last single, the jazz infused country tilted “Finally Free,” her newest release “The Crow” takes a decisive turn into more of an alternative twisted sound that recalls the popular 90’s era of grunge and rock music.

Authentic and transparent are two ways to perfectly describe Bailey James , and “The Crow” continues to unveil deeper pieces of her soul as it’s a song that she’s dedicated to her late brother.

Setting the poetic vibe, James opens the song with the lines “I had a dream I was woken up from a nightmare, and never fell back asleep so maybe I’m right there,” and she instantly intrigues the listener as that bold set up leaves you wondering whether the remainder of the song is really all a dream, a figment of her imagination, or if she’s actually living it out in her day-to-day life.

Taking an oftentimes dark, though thought provoking angle, James weaves you through a tale of her following the crow’s path and allowing “the black feathered angel” to lead her ala the 1994 cult classic film of the same name as her song, as she unashamedly admits in the chorus, “I can’t do this all my own, life is like a broken road, so I follow the crow.”

The crow, though seemingly used brilliantly as a metaphoric meaning, acts as a guardian angel throughout the song, seeing the storms of life up ahead of her and steering her clear of them, etc.

However, beyond just the deeply personal lyrics, to really make a song like this work the instrumentation must also perfectly line up so that it wraps around the raw honesty of the words to uphold the overall mood, which is exactly what happens here.

The guitars oftentimes hit on darker tones while carrying the melody alongside James’ incredible vocal emotion, but they also drop into shredding territory at all the right times to convey the urgency of the lyrics.

Though “The Crow” may be a song that strays a little left of the country music radar as far as charting is concerned, it acts as the perfect next step for Bailey James. The song solidifies the idea that she can’t be placed in the box, while expertly showcasing her signature abilities to use her voice to push emotions, her songwriting prowess to hold you captivated on the edge of your seat, and her ability to pull all the different facets together in the structure and instrumentation to make this song click in every aspect.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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