Music / new releases
New release: Elles Bailey’s moving tribute to late friend
The third and latest single from Elles Bailey‘s new album is a tribute to a friend taken too soon.
Better Days was written by Matt Long, a musician Bailey met when they were both emerging artists on the UK Blues scene, crossing paths at festivals and on tour for years before his cancer diagnosis which saw him pass away at just 29 years old.
“Singing it feels like a privilege, and a way to celebrate the life and music of my late friend,” she said of the track, an uplifting soul number with a hopeful message.
An acclaimed artist who took home three crowns from last year’s UK Blues Awards and was named Live Act of the Year at the UK Americana Awards in 2024, Bailey recorded the track as part of the full length tribute album to Matt With A Little Help From My Friends, but the song also appears on her latest album Can’t Take My Story Away.
The album, released on January 16, took her ten years to write and three years to record. It is, she says, her most honest and vulnerable work to date.
It comes fresh off the back of Bailey’s session for Radio Two’s Cerys Matthews show, on January 12, in the legendary Maida Vale studios.
“If someone had told 2016 me that I’d one day tour and duet with @ragnboneman, I would never have believed you! Yet this happened and I’m still pinching myself” Bailey said. “Hands down one of my favourite moments of 2025! Thank you forever for this moment Rory” – photo: Elles Bailey
It’s the latest in a string of career highs for the artist who toured with Rag’n’Bone Man last year. She begins this year’s UK and EU tour at London Rough Trade West on January 16, and takes in Bristol Electric on March 21.
Listen to the album at ellesb.lnk.to/CTMSA and find all tour dates at www.ellesbailey.com
Main image: Hope P
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