Music and its meaning are something different for every music artist, as many other things are, in life, for all of us.
Music also and often reflects our personalities, our moods, our roots, the places in our souls where we have been to and the ways we came out as, either winners or losers. Even when an artist's career would be on a high through the media, we would never be able to find out how that artist got there and what life path they have been through, until they decide to reveal it themselves to the rest of the world.
This is, in some respects, the story behind the making of the new album called Can’t Take My Story Away from one of the most brilliant and inspired British singer-songwriters of the current music scene, Elles Bailey, an artist that is just back from another triumphant year of music, where Bailey received numerous accolades from both Press and fans for the successful solo Tour of her 2024’s album Beneath The Neon Glow and for accompanying the Chart-Topper British Artist Rag’n’Bone Man on part of his 2025 Tour.
Elles Bailey, now at her 5th studio album, is a well established Americana and Roots artist not only in Bailey’s country of origin, but all across Europe too.
The British singer-songwriter had, for a considerable amount of time, being working on the songs that ended up on Can’t Take My Story Away but unable to find the right musical dress for her songs until 3 years ago, when Bailey crossed path with The Temperance Movement American guitarist and producer Luke Potashnick.
Potashnick realised pretty soon the musical direction that Bailey’s songs needed to take and both Bailey and Potashnick found, almost immediately, a common sonic ground where Bailey's exceptional vocal skills could augment even further the delicate themes present in what then became Can’t Take My Story Away, thanks to the intensity and power that Bailey’s voice possesses within.
Bailey’s new album is, undoubtedly, the artistic peak of her career to date; the 11 songs part of the British singer-songwriter's new record are intrised with stories of spirituality, personal losses, resilience and mental health struggles occurring at times through the last decade of the artist's life, until finding that physical and spiritual place in her heart that Elles Bailey can call Home, offering, at the same time, an openly honest and most intimate portrait of Bailey’s everyday life behind the scenes, in the most touching and uplifting possible way.
Musically, the record shows a lot more stripped-back arrangements, in comparison to some of Bailey’s past albums, a choice that helped undoubtedly to apply the right emphasis to both Bailey’s inspired songwriting style and emotionally charged, beautiful vocals in each of the album's songs.
During this journey at 360 degrees happening lyrically within Can’t Take My Story Away, Bailey displays in all its beauty, that magnificent voice that she possesses; from the Motown era sonically driven R&B vibes present into a song like Angel, through the vocally impeccable Folk ballad called Blessed, to then raising up the tempo again with another spicy sounding R&B number called Take A Step Back up until the closing moments of the album, where Elles Bailey delivers the final knock-out of her new record through a trio of outstandingly delivered songs, respectively called Dandelion, Tightrope and Starling, Bailey shows her incredible artistic growth by penning, song after song, little artistic gems of the highest value.
Elles Bailey reaches, through the songs of Can’t Take My Story Away, the absolute pinnacle of her career to date, in our website's opinion. Whilst someone can see (and rightly so) Bailey as a Modern Days' British answer to the great Joni Mitchell, it is also true that Elles Bailey has successfully managed to chisel an easily recognisable trademark style of her own accord, patiently built through the years and thanks to Bailey’s indisputable talent. Because, through Bailey’s new album, onevthing is guaranteed; that nobody, absolute nobody, Can Take Her successful Story Away.
Can't Take My Story Away is due to be released on 16th January 2026 and can be purchased via Elles Bailey’s Official Website
