Chaos and the Calm

Chaos and the Calm is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter James Bay. It was first released on 23 March 2015 via Republic Records.

Chaos and the Calm
Studio album by James Bay
Released	23 March 2015
Recorded	2013–2014
Studio	Blackbird (Nashville, Tennessee)[1][2]
Genre	Americana[3][4] indie rock[4] folk rock[5] blues[3] soul[3] soft rock[3] pop rock[6]
Length	48:11
Label	Republic
Producer	James Bay Jacquire King Jon Green Steve Robson
James Bay chronology
Chaos and the Calm (2015) Electric Light (2018)
Singles from Chaos and the Calm
"Let It Go" Released: 15 September 2014 "Hold Back the River" Released: 17 November 2014 "Scars" Released: 28 August 2015 "If You Ever Want to Be in Love" Released: 29 October 2015 "Best Fake Smile" Released: 2 March 2016 "Running" Released: 11 March 2016

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, while the song "Hold Back the River" was nominated for Best Rock Song and Bay for Best New Artist.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Clash	7/10[9]
The Guardian	[10]
PopMatters	6/10[11]

Chaos and the Calm received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 9 reviews.

Commercial performance

Chaos and the Calm debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 29 March 2015, having sold over 64,000 copies in the first week of release.^[12]

Track listing

Chaos and the Calm standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Craving"	James Bay Iain Archer	Jacquire King	3:47
2.	"Hold Back the River"	Bay Archer	King	3:59
3.	"Let It Go"	Bay Paul Barry	King	4:21
4.	"If You Ever Want to Be in Love"	Bay Jimmy Hogarth Steve McEwan	King	3:58
5.	"Best Fake Smile"	Bay Archer	King	3:26
6.	"When We Were on Fire"	Bay Jon Green	King	3:59
7.	"Move Together"	Bay Jamie Hartman	King	4:37
8.	"Scars"	Bay	King	4:32
9.	"Collide"	Bay Kid Harpoon	King	3:24
10.	"Get Out While You Can"	Bay Ed Harcourt	King	4:43
11.	"Need the Sun to Break"	Bay Joel Pott	King	3:46
12.	"Incomplete"	Bay Jake Gosling Chris Leonard	King	3:41
Total length:				48:11

Chaos and the Calm deluxe version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Running"	Bay	Bay	3:36
14.	"Clocks Go Forward"	Bay Martin Brammer Adam Argyle (adapter)	Green	4:10
15.	"Stealing Cars"	Bay Green	Green	3:43
16.	"Scars" (live at iTunes Festival 2014; digital bonus track only)			4:43
Total length:				64:23

Chaos and the Calm deluxe edition – disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Move Together" (The Dark of the Morning Version)	Bay Hartman	Green	4:45
2.	"Need the Sun to Break" (The Dark of the Morning Version)	Bay Pott	Green	3:37
3.	"When We Were on Fire" (The Dark of the Morning Version)	Bay Green	Green	3:59
4.	"Stealing Cars"	Bay Green	Green	3:43
5.	"Clocks Go Forward"	Bay Brammer	Green	4:10
6.	"Sparks"	Bay Barry	Bay	3:07
7.	"Wait in Line"	Bay Harpoon	Bay	4:00
8.	"Running"	Bay	Bay	3:36
9.	"Hear Your Heart"	Bay Caitlyn Smith Steve Robson	Robson	3:02
10.	"Heavy Handed"	Bay Harcourt	Bay	3:29
Total length:				84:00

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2015–2017) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 3 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 2 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 10 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 34 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 4 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[18] 16 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] 5 French Albums (SNEP)[20] 37 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21] 3 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[22] 38 Irish Albums (IRMA)[23] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[24] 13 Latvian Albums (LaIPA)[25] 64 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 6 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27] 12 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[28] 46 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[29] 22 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[30] 20 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 6 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[33] 1 US Billboard 200[34] 15 US Digital Albums (Billboard)[35] 5 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[36] 1 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[37] 2 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[38] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[39] 17 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[40] 101 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[41] 37 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[42] 44 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[43] 28 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 29 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 25 UK Albums (OCC)[46] 8 US Billboard 200[47] 167 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[48] 12 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[49] 49 Chart (2016) Position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[50] 31 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[51] 42 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[52] 37 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[53] 46 UK Albums (OCC)[54] 19 US Billboard 200[55] 59 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[56] 18 Chart (2017) Position Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[57] 66 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[58] 77 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[59] 79 Chart (2019) Position Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi)[60] 85 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position UK Albums (OCC)[61] 68

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[62]	Gold	35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[63]	Gold	7,500*
Canada (Music Canada)[64]	2× Platinum	160,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[65]	2× Platinum	40,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[66]	Gold	100,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[67]	Gold	25,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[68]	Gold	30,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[69]	Platinum	15,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[70]	Gold	15,000*
Singapore (RIAS)[71]	Gold	5,000*
Sweden (GLF)[72]	Gold	20,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[73]	Gold	10,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[74]	3× Platinum	824,540[75]
United States (RIAA)[76]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Ireland	20 March 2015	CD digital download	Republic
United Kingdom[77]	23 March 2015