Track By Track: Jeffrey James Breaks Down New EP East London

Born in Indiana and currently based in Nashville, singer-songwriter Jeffrey James is the soul-pop artist you need to hear right now.

On Friday James released his new EP East London, which was created during a songwriting trip to England’s capital city. Working with legendary UK producers including Geoff Swan (Charli XCX, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay), Jackson Dimiglio-Wood (Shawn Mendes), Dan Weller (SikTh), and Dan McDougal (Liam Gallagher), together they crafted a stunningly honest and captivating collection that blurs lines between James’ soulful Nashville influences and contemporary pop, all while exploring the challenges he’s faced in life and love over the past few years.

James broke down East London track by track exclusively for Musical Notes Global readers. Check out his thoughts below.

“Downtown”

This song was a blast to write and record. It was my first time working with Producer, Dan Weller, and there were a couple guys in the room, which made for some epic choir vocals that you hear on the track. Lyrically, it’s based on a rough patch I had gone through with my current partner. There was a moment where we were as close to breaking up as we had ever been. We realized, however, our issues stemmed from the people we had surrounded ourselves with. I finally had enough perspective on that time to write about it. We actually still live in East Nashville and I recorded the song in Brixton on the east side of London. The song is less about getting away from the city and more about getting away from certain cancerous people.

“Slow Right Down”

I thought the EP was finished. I had written a bunch of songs and picked the 5 that I thought were the strongest and told the stories I wanted to tell. Everything was mixed and mastered. Then I wrote Slow Right Down. At the time I was feeling overwhelmed with how quickly I thought the year was going. This song came out of a realization that I needed to take a deep breath every now and then to figure out where I’m headed, how I’m getting there, and who I’m going with. Everything about the song fell into place so quickly. The vocal you hear was from the demo we made on the first day we wrote the song. Even the track didn’t change much from the first session. It all just worked!

“You Are”

I met producer Jackson Dimiglio-Wood for the first time at his house, which was about an hour outside of London. We hit it off instantly and had this song written and demoed in just a couple hours. It’s a pretty straight forward song about my past relationships and how everything is different with my current partner. We finished the track on my second trip to London in studio B of Sticky Studios. Which, from the outside, looks like a shack next to a farmhouse. Haha! It did the job though!

“Outside Forces”

This might be my favorite songs on the EP. It has all the elements of songs I love listening to. At times, it’s completely stripped down to just sparse vocals and piano, but then it grows with chanty gang vocals and a groove that forces you to move your body. It’s also a very hopeful song. The entire EP is much more hopeful and happy than I’ve written in the past. I know that’s a direct correlation to where I am in my personal life.

“One And The Same”

I love simple, straight forward piano ballads. I’m always searching for a way to write a new great one. This is the closest I’ve ever gotten. Producer, Dan McDougal, created an emotional piano part, and the melody sits so easily in my range, that I never have to struggle to sing it. Everything about it just feels right to me.

Listen to East London below.