James Riley has revealed his new video for Lay Me down which was produced in Nashville by Grammy award winner Matthew Odmark and is the lead single from his debut album Transatlantica which dropped on March 13th.
Anglo-American and raised in London, James followed his roots back to Nashville in 2017 for a short trip – which ended up becoming a 2-year odyssey. Whilst in Tennessee he met Grammy-winning producer Matthew Odmark, and recorded his debut album “Transatlantica” from which we featured his video for New York Minute here last year.
James shared the following on the making of the video for Lay Me Down:
“I’d worked with Jon (Jonathan Stow, Director) a couple of years ago the music video for my song “Lightning Strikes” and we had been battling back and forth ideas for a music video for “Lay Me Down” for almost as long… the song deals with some quite broad themes (destiny, life’s journey, the meaning of songwriting etc)… so it was quite hard to sum up in a narrative or a single visual image.
“Eventually, we decided would try to create something visually powerful which alluded to the lyrical content of the song but allowed the music to speak for itself. The idea of shooting something underwater struck us both – the sense of jeopardy, mystery and discovery seemed to resonate with the overall message of the music – and mirrored a lot of the themes I explore in songwriting.
“We found long-abandoned Victorian swimming baths in Birmingham where we captured the ‘dry’ shots – and Jon knew of a place in Nottingham with an immersion tank, (normally used for mermaid/wedding photography) where we shot the underwater stuff. I must have spent six hours in that tank – I looked like a prune by the time I got out! And that was before a six-hour drive back to London and a gig the same evening! But it was worth it to create the piece of work we wanted”
This song just trips along, from the bright acoustic melodies to the way James literally rolls those lyrics out. They combine to produce an infectious momentum which effortlessly and skillfully carries the listener along.
Since returning to the UK, James has been building towards his the release of his new record, putting out teaser tracks, creating cinematic music videos, and through a slew of live shows and festivals including Glastonbury, Wilderness, Shrewsbury Folk & Maverick, slow-burning his way towards national notoriety – and heads have indeed begun turning. The past 18 months have seen James nominated for no fewer than 4 awards – as well as yielding national TV and radio coverage, and international tours on both sides of the Atlantic.
The start of 2020 marks the threshold of an exciting new chapter for this transatlantic songsmith, and a long-awaited opportunity to share with the world the fruits of a hard-won musical journey – and one that seems ready hit its stride over the next twelve months.
NEXT SCHEDULED SHOWS:
JUNE 18TH @ THE SCOOP, LONDON
https://secretldn.com/summer-by-the-river-festival/
AUGUST 21ST @ CAMPFIRE CLUB, LONDON
https://www.facebook.com/events/194413815000497/
More here: https://www.jamesrileymusic.com/
Stream his debut album “Transatlantica” here: https://orcd.co/transatlantica