Coachella Band Preview: Hayden James

It’s been two months since the Coachella 2020 lineup was released, which means we have 5 weeks and 2 days to go before the masses start flooding the Coachella Valley in preparation of southern California’s most famous music festival. I can’t believe it’s only a little over a month away. Time really flies when you spend the winter in Mexico. Now it’s full steam ahead towards my 5th Coachella. It’s pretty surreal how I started these yearly band previews in preparation of my first Coachella and now here we are 5 years later and I’m on the brink of being at my 5th one. It was truly the festival that started it all for me and this crazy music industry adventure that I’m a part of. Alright…enough of me being super grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had, it’s time to focus on the music. This week I’m previewing an artist I wrote about back in 2018, Hayden James.

When I first wrote about electronic artist Hayden James, I had been listening to his song “NUMB” ft. GRAACE for months. It was my most listened to song of 2018. Since then, James released his debut album Between Us on June 14, 2019. I also did an album review of it in August. Since the debut release, James has only played a few music festivals and a few tour dates, which is a bit out of the ordinary surrounding an album release. Most of his sets were in his home country of Australia with a few dates in the U.S., Europe, and New Zealand. This year includes several more tour stops in Australia, Mexico, and the U.S. including his Coachella appearance.

Coachella 2020 will mark James’ second Coachella appearance. His first came in 2015 as a Do Lab artist. This time he’s officially on the bill though and likely to play the Sahara Tent, if not, Gobi or Mojave. His soulful and sensual house style will surely bring plenty of fans out to his set no matter where it’s played. I would definitely expect a larger draw at Sahara since a lot of younger festival goers like to spend all their time at the stage, but who knows because many people enjoy a good electronic set. After seeing him in 2018 at Electric Forest, I know he’s capable of bringing lots of dancing and a lot of bass to his sets. He’s also very capable of setting the Coachella vibe with his tracks. Here are the one’s you should know:

1. NUMB
2. Something About You
3. Just Friends
4. Better Together
5. Just A Lover
6. Favours
7. Nowhere to Go
8. Hold Me Back
9. Remember You
10. Permission to Love

Between Us: Album Review

This album review is coming in two months late, but better late than never, especially for the debut album from electronic artist, Hayden James. I wrote a blog post about Hayden James last year. I became obsessed with his song “NUMB” last May and it was a song I continually listened to through the rest of 2018. This summer he released his debut album Between Us on June 14, 2019. The Australian DJ has been in the music world since 2013. He had only released 1 EP and plenty of singles up until his album release in June, but he’s been known for some killer tracks.

His first album features a few of those songs. “NUMB”, “Just Friends”, and “Better Together” are on the record amongst several new tracks. All three were released over the last two years. Leading up to the album release, James dropped the song “Nowhere to Go” as well. The album features collaborations with indie electronic artists Elderbrook and Running Touch. Between Us is filled with house music that will get you in the groove from top to bottom. I can hear a lot of these songs being played in clubs worldwide, if they’re not already.

To all my electronic music fans out there, I urge you to check out Hayden James if you haven’t already. This new record is filled with bangers. Hayden James just started his fall tour in support of the album. He’ll be hitting several U.S. cities in September and October as well as playing dates in Australia and Europe. The tour seems relatively small based on the amount of dates and venues, but that might not be for long as I’m sure his fan base is currently growing. It’s time to hop on the Hayden James train because it’s moving at full speed and not stopping any time soon.