Album Notes

Hello here are some reviews of my debut album, although at the time I was called just “Bailey” rather than “the sound of bailey”, the reviewers really seem to get the album which is cool, but a few people seem to just think where are the drums? Still here they are, you can find more on the folkwit records site

Bailey "The Way Things Are Done" (Folkwit Records 2005)
You don't really need to be told that Bailey is an English folk musician, it's stamped all over his debut album. While American folk musicans would be busy baring their souls and the Celts would be way more celebratory, Bailey is the kind of introspective, restrained artist that the English appear to have a bit of a monopoly on. But even Bailey's illustrious predecessors rarely left their music so open and exposed to the elements. With only a fathomless voice that becomes all enveloping and the most gentle and thoughtful use of a guitar Bailey draws you completely into his idyll. On The Way That Things Are Done, Bailey has isolated the art of the singer/songwriter and presented it in its rawest and purest form. He allows the songs to flourish in the simplest of settings and the contrast between that simplicity and the delicate, intricate beauty of what he's saying, makes this a powerful album. Introspection, subtlety and gentleness in folk music will lead Bailey to some obvious comparisons. So obvious that there is no need to namecheck them here. The Way That Things Are Done is a jewel in the crown worn by those predecessors but it also deserves to be judged on its own merits.

www.americana-uk.com

BAILEY - The Way That Things Are Done
Today's musical climate is awash with albums trying to disguise a distinct lack of ideas with over-produced, 64-track digital jiggery-pokery, so much so that many of us seem to have forgotten just how pleasant the sound of one man and his guitar can be - me included! Thanks then to Bailey who, with the aid of a few friends, has served up this charming album of analogue loveliness.
Spinning sweet yarns of mermaids, lighthouse keepers and failed romance in self-deprecating style, his songs are simple, straight-forward and never outstay their welcome or become boring despite only the odd piano flourishes. "Could Have Been a Sign" is a classic example - a dead ringer for Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" with a more subdued Morrisey on vocals. I also particularly liked "Hospital Bed". All in all, a small triumph

Will Columbine

www.tastyfanzine.org.uk