James Dey

James Dey grew up in a vicarage in Bradford, the 3rd of 5 sons. The house was full of music. Time went by and, for want of any other skills, James moved to Manchester to study jazz drumming in a city fizzing with life. He discovered a love for lyric writing and layering his fragile vocals with delicately played guitar, piano and percussion to create warm, lush musical landscapes.
He began releasing in 2005 with his debut ‘Landing Lights’. More solo releases followed - ‘the night time’ album drawing widespread attention in 2016, followed by 4 EPs in 2019 titled ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’, ‘Autumn’ and ‘Winter’, released chronologically through the seasons of that year. 2021 will see the release of new album ‘Tongues in Trees’, a collection of songs drawn together from James’ theatre soundtracks.
James now lives and works in Leeds, where he continues to journey in these musical landscapes. He finds inspiration in birds, trees, estuaries, overheard conversations and nostalgic longings. The music is all hushed beauty, telling small stories of seemingly unremarkable things.

“Beautiful, exploratory, gorgeous songwriting…I love it” - Guy Garvey, BBC 6 Music.

“Sparkles with humanity” - Alan Raw, BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire.