The Story 

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There’s a steeliness that courses through Elles Bailey’s latest album, Can’t Take My Story Away. Fiercely independent, the British singer-songwriter has been steadily honing her craft for the better part of a decade. Her magnificent voice – instantly recognisable, full of grit – weaves stories of resilience and survival, of hope and new beginnings. In her music, we find liberation as she picks at the threads of human connection, carefully unravelling the truths we might not have realised about ourselves. 

“My most recent albums felt very much like they were snapshots in time,” Bailey explains. “Once your debut is out, the ball starts rolling, so those records were made very quickly, released and toured.” By contrast, Can’t Take My Story Away was created over a three-year period, using songs whose origins can be traced back almost 10 years. “There’s definitely an empowerment to this record,” she says. “I feel like that has actually evolved since I first started making it – as though I was a different person.”

Bailey had found herself in a dark place when the embers of the album started to burn. “It’s been a real journey to love myself, to feel comfortable in my own skin,” she reveals. “It all started when I was in a really low spot, and then the most recent recording session, I realised I felt like a totally different person.” We hear this newfound confidence on the single “Growing Roots”, with its shimmer and sway in the instrumentation, and Bailey’s voice landing clear and strong: “I love it when the wind blows wild/ And the sun it sets the sky on fire/ And I can barely keep myself from running out on everyone else.”

“It’s a classic love song, in a sense,” Bailey says of “Growing Roots”. Indeed, there’s a romance to her tale of being loved for her wild heart, not in spite of it. “It’s taken me a long time to settle down, because I’m always on the road thinking about the next thing,” she says. “This was inspired when I was feeling burnt out from tours, and thinking, ‘Wow, it might be nice to stay at home for a bit before the next adventure.’”

In “Blessed”, we find evidence of how Bailey is able to tie each song to one another with perfect cohesion. Inspired by the experience of being loved for “exactly who you are”, it is a resplendent work of elegant, gliding strings and delicate guitar-picking. “The quiet madness of midnight,” she sings, “Have all the stars lost their shine?/ Yours is the song to talk me back down from the edge/ When nothing seems right.” Born from a writing session with her longtime collaborator Ash Tucker and finished with producer Luke Potashnick, its steady evolution reflects how Bailey herself has grown both in confidence and in artistry.

The industry has frequently singled Bailey out for her unique take on Americana. She was crowned Live Act of the Year at the UK Americana Awards 2024, as well as Vocalist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards, also in 2024. Her third album, 2022’s Shining in the Half Light, topped the Official Jazz and Blues Albums Chart while also hitting No 4 in the UK Independent Albums Chart. Meanwhile her fourth album, Beneath the Neon Glow – which peaked at No 12 on the UK Official Albums Chart – received rave reviews for its raw and candid songwriting, as well Bailey’s “outstanding” vocals that “effortlessly traversed the highs and lows”. Fellow artists have recognised her talent, too, resulting in opening spots for the likes of Van Morrison, Jools Holland and Rag’n’Bone Man – the latter with whom she also joined for a duet of his hit single “Anywhere Away From Here”.

Fans would likely be stunned, then, to learn that Bailey has had to overcome feelings of imposter syndrome more than once. It was this which led to new song “Angel”, an irresistible nod to blues and Motown complete with jubilant brass section. Here, Bailey channels the spirit of Janis Joplin with her husky growl, like cigar smoke curling above a glass of whiskey. “It was originally written as a ballad with Aaron Lee Tasjan (Yola), whilst I was in that low spot in 2023, a depression caused in part by losing my voice and fearing I’d done some serious damage to it,” she recalls. But in early 2025 she stumbled on these old lyrics and sang and recorded a completely new melody, what she felt in the moment, then sent it to her producer Luke Potashnick (Paloma Faith, Robbie Williams, Katie Melua). 

“This record is, at its heart, a true collaboration with Luke who has poured countless hours into shaping and refining these songs with me,” she says. “Over the three years we’ve spent bringing this record to life, I’ve learned so much from Luke – his patience, his vision, and his deep care for songcraft have truly left a lasting mark on me musically.”

Take the title track, “Can’t Take My Story Away”. Originally written with Dan Bettridge, it ended up in Postasnick’s hands when Bailey was looking for tracks that could work for the album. “We agonised over it and worked on those themes of empowerment, and stepping away from relationships that try to control you. Because even in the pain of walking away, there’s freedom, too,” she says. The song raises a glass, even to the times when it didn’t work out, and is all the more uplifting for it.

Elles saves space for a moving tribute to a late friend, Matt Long, the singer, guitarist and songwriter for the award-winning band Catfish. Matt tragically passed away in October last year, 18 months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. He and Bailey emerged onto the UK blues scene around the same time, crossing paths at festivals and on tour. “It felt like we were climbing this wild musical ladder together,” she said, “and then he got diagnosed with cancer.” During that time the whole community came together to help raise funds for his treatment. When he died, his parents showed her a song he’d written, “Better Days”. 

“I started inviting our friends to come and sing it with me” she explains. “I felt like I wanted to bring a piece of him onstage with me, and it’s a beautiful song with a simple message that I think we need to hear.”

The making of this record was a wonderfully natural process for Bailey, represented in “Constant Need to Keep Going”, in which the drums spill onto the bass and guitar, into the percussion, like the flow of a river. “It feels very live, very airy,” she suggests. “It’s very much been led by the players in the room, what their gut feeling is they should do.” One such person was the renowned producer and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns (Paul McCartney, Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Marling), who asked Bailey how she envisioned the track, more like a classic country song in the style it has been written or something else? : ‘I threw the question back at him and Ethan started gently jamming on the kit and the band just fell in with him so organically and it ended up being this quite melancholic, reflective sound, which feels very real.”

Authenticity is at the core of everything Bailey does. From the stoicism of “Dandelions”, about the collective resilience of humanity, to “Tightrope”, about her profound experiences of mental health. Closer “Starling” is a poignant, stripped-back piano number inspired by the death of a close friend. Can’t Take My Story Away is more than a snapshot of a moment in time – it’s the pieces of Bailey’s life, placed carefully together to form a dazzling, kaleidoscopic story.

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UK Song of the Year 2020 Americana Awards UK 

Album of the Year 2020/2023/2025 UKBlues Awards 

Artist of the Year 20/21/23 UKBlues Awards

Vocalist of the year 2023/2024/2025

UK Artist of the year 2023 -  Americana Awards UK

Live act OF THE YEAR 2023/2024 - Americana Awards UK

Artist of the Year 2020/2021/2023 UKBlues Awards