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
“A rich sense of imagery and metaphor to strike a balance between pain and healing” - Various Small Flames
“Beautiful”- BBC Introducing
Alex Bayly is a London based singer songwriter with an ear for mournful melodies and a wistful chorus. Having cut his teeth on both London’s indie and folk scenes independently, his debut self-released EP, ‘New America’ straddled both worlds with a natural elegance and delicate hand. While ‘New America’, partly pays debt to American contemporary alt-folk, it’s Bayly’s English folk roots that adds a unique depth to the tense, ethereal song writing. The title track ‘New America’ became an organic hit, garnering over 100K streams and being added to Spotify playlists “Fresh Finds: Six Strings” and “Lost In The Woods” alongside Nick Mulvey, Laura Marling and Charlie Cunningham.
Following ‘New America’, the indie-folk songwriter returned with standalone singles ‘Wade in the Water’ and ‘Clear Air Turbulence’ released on My Little Empire Records. 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.