Multi-instrumentalist Jaws The Shark (real name Olly Bailey), has today released his new honest and reflective single, Lately.
Olly explains, “I wrote Lately about giving up a job that I’d fallen out of love with for various reasons, but it was a job that had given me so much; allowed me to travel the world, meet amazing people and made me the person I am today. Without it, I wouldn’t even be in a position to be releasing my own music. Despite all of that, I felt an overwhelming compulsion to go it alone and blaze my own trail. I knew that if I were to give it up there would be no going back, but the draw of wanting to prove myself to myself was a path that I knew I needed to go down to see where it lead. I’m currently on that path and not knowing where it leads is both the best and worst part about it!”
19th July will see the release of Olly’s long-awaited debut album, Wasteland. The 11-track body of work was written entirely by Olly himself, and produced by previous collaborator, George Perks, at VADA Recording Studios. Performed by Olly, he is alsojoined by bassist Brendan O’Boyle, and Dinosaur Pile-Up’s Michael Sheils on drums.
The indie/alt-rock artist kicked off his debut album campaign earlier this year with single California, which was picked as BBC Music Introducing (South & West)’s Track Of The Week. This was shortly followed up by the scuzzy Got It Made, which featuresDeaf Havana’s lead vocalist James Veck-Gilodi, and received its first spin on BBC Introducing (South & West). Both singles have received solid support across streaming platforms, including playlist features with the likes of Spotify’s New Noise (444k+ likes), and Amazon’s Fresh Rock. Pre-save Wasteland here.
Olly clarifies, “Wasteland is an album that I’d been wanting to write for some time now, and one that I’m really proud of personally.Some of the tracks that I write wouldn’t necessarily be put into the Jaws The Shark category when you look back at what I’ve released previously, but I wanted this album to show off some of my versatility that I like to explore when writing songs.”
Following twos packed out shows in Brighton for The Great Escape last weekend, Jaws will support Indoor Pets at The Garage in London, on 30th May. Jaws The Shark will embark on an UK/EU headline tour in September. Kicking things off at Kazimer Stockroom in Liverpool on 13th September, the tour will then span cities including Manchester, Leeds, St. Albans, Paris, Chalon-Sur-Saône, London, where the Devon-born artist will headline The Grace on 25th September, and then Portsmouth before wrapping things up in Southampton, at Heartbreakers on 27th September. Tickets are on sale now here.
2022 saw Olly release his debut EP, Another Day In Paradise, via Nice Swan Records (named ‘one of the best labels in the land’ by Clash Magazine). Shortly after this, he caught the attention of SO Records (home to Placebo, Enter Shikari, Deaf Havana and more), and released his self-titled EP with them. The 4-track release included a collaboration with Dinosaur Pile-Up titled Destroy The World, which has racked up almost 350k streams on Spotify alone.This was then up followed by EP, Cream, which features the title track which garnered support and received radio plays from the likes of BBC Radio 1 presenters, Jack Saunders, Alyx Holcombe and Nels Hylton.
Hailing from a small town in Devon, before relocating to London, Bailey discovered his passion for music at an early age. Drawing inspiration from a wide range of genres, from rock and indie to electronic and shoegaze, he has developed a sound that seamlessly blends different styles together.