While writing his second album, UK singer/songwriter James Bay adopted a David Bowie quote as his mission statement: “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” Secretly hunkered down in a basement studio when he was supposed to be on a six-month break, Bay felt free to experiment. He re-emerged with a questing set of songs that crosses into simmering funk-rock, taut alt-pop and folky electro-R&B from Bon Iver’s neck of the woods. The risk in diverting from the Americana-tinged pop-rock of his GRAMMY®-nominated debut, Chaos and the Calm, is mitigated by unshakeable melodies and Bay’s versatile voice, which continues to crackle with the joy and pain of love. Mission accomplished.