With her new album, Can’t Take My Story Away, released today, Elles Bailey is in relaxed mode. At home, as she does her latest round of interviews, it is 8.15 pm when I get my turn to chat with her. Elles has been doing a lot of promotional work, as anyone who follows her socials will acknowledge. A rehearsal and radio interviews, as well as a three-hour slot of back-to-back Zoom calls, Elles has been busy. “I must admit, my voice is getting a bit tired now,” she admits. “But it’s all good. I just need a good night’s sleep.”
With the build-up to the album release, followed by an in-store tour and then a UK-wide set of shows, it may be surprising that Elles Bailey is not a bit more anxious. “It feels good,” she tells me. “I feel very calm about the album coming out. I’m sure by Monday, I’ll be feeling a little bit more frazzled by release week.
“But release week is wild because it is amazing. The in-store tour is unreal. It’s so much fun. But then you also have the whole like, oh, it’s chart release week, which is like terrifying in equal measures.”
If you’ve followed Elles Bailey’s career, you will be aware of her rise to prominence, with multiple awards and charting records, as well as big rotation on Radio 2 and beyond. Having been releasing music for over a decade, there is reflection in the impact that releasing music has on the artist.
“It’s quite bizarre releasing music, especially singles. So, I’m going to think about singles. You release the music, and then you’re out walking the dog, and you’re picking up your son from school. The world just seems the same, but you’ve just put your heart out there.
“I remember releasing Medicine Man back in 2018, which was the first single from Road I Call Home and like nothing really happened. I went to a play cafe, I think with my brother’s kids and was running around the soft play with them. And I was like, this is weird. I’ve just released some music, and then here I am at a play cafe.
“I remember it got added to a really big Spotify playlist. I didn’t find out for 24 hours, and you’re like, oh, stuff is happening out there. But you just sort of feel, especially if you’re not on tour, a bit bizarre. I guess it’s not how you imagined it as an eight-year-old, and you’re sat on, I don’t know, Good Morning Britain because you’ve released a song or whatever.
“It’s a very different world that we live in now when it comes to releasing music. But it’s because of that world that I basically have a career in music. So, I’m very grateful for that.”
Can’t Take My Story Away is an album that has been a long time in the making. Some of the songs go back to pre-Wildfire, so it is an album that has already been written for some time. Elles agrees that often the release of a new album is putting out music that has already been with the artist for some time. This album is particularly like that.
“I remember doing interviews for Beneath The Neon Glow and people saying, ‘How are you going to follow this up? You must be feeling the pressure.’ I was sat there like, I’ve already got eight songs recorded. I had recorded them before I had done Beneath The Neon Glow. So that’s quite funny.
“This time around, I’ve got nothing, like nothing. So, I have no idea what the next album is going to sound like. I’m very much like, right, this is the album. There’s nothing else coming for a while. So, we’ve got to make the most of this one.
“But yeah, it’s quite interesting because some of these songs were written a long time ago, and then, I guess, they’re deeply personal for those moments. And then they’re coming out four, five, six years, seven, almost ten years after they were written. So that’s quite a bizarre thing.
“I think for me, the only other time I’ve done that is with Wildfire, because your debut album, you can have as long as you want to write it. I kind of feel like this is like a re-debut, I guess, almost because it’s over such a long period of time. So, yeah, some songs were written before Wildfire even came out, which is wild.”
One might imagine that playing song that are from different stages or periods in your life, especially if those times were hard or challenging, could be quite emotive to manage when performing on stage. But for Elles, the process of songwriting and performing is deeply healing.
She describes how the more she sings the songs, the more it heals. “I don’t get triggered or anything by them. I mean, sometimes. There are actually songs that probably won’t make the big live set. They’re probably the more intimate songs on the album that are possibly the ones I think would be harder to perform.
“We’re going to be performing a couple of them on the in-store tour, so that’s going to be interesting. I remember we did a show at Rough Trade in November, and I sort of showcased some of the album then live. So, there’s been a small group of people who’ve heard songs from it.
“But yeah, we performed Tightrope and I was almost crying. I was like, oh wow, I’ve got to pull myself together and perform this song, not just make it over the last few years. So yeah, it’s interesting. But I think the more I do it, the easier it gets. I don’t feel like I have a stage. I feel like I am the same person. You would get the same Elle’s on stage as you would off.
“But there is a part of me that, I put on a sparkly outfit, and I do embody something that’s maybe not entirely, maybe go out of myself a little bit. Does that make sense? So, the performing of the songs, I guess, is easier.”
As we chat, we touch on the Christmas social media posts where Elles Bailey was sharing photos of her unboxing the album whilst dressed in her joggers. She’s clearly as at home in her casual gear around the house as she is in the glittery dresses.
“I mean, look at me now,” she laughs. “I’m in my ripped jeans, my baggy top, my slippers. Yeah, I love this. I love lounging around. And I think it’s funny. Someone asked me, ‘Your wardrobe must be spectacular.’ And my wardrobe is spectacular. ‘What do you wear at home?’ I was like, my Mickey Mouse pyjamas. And he was like, ‘What? You’re sat here in this massive sparkly coat.’
“I’m basically a bag lady when I’m at home. I guess you embody your personality, don’t you, when you get all dressed up. But I think you do that even if you were just going to a party, like you put on your fancy pants and you’re like, okay, I’m feeling good tonight.”
A couple of days before our interview, Elles Bailey and her band had been at Maida Vale studios with Cerys Matthews for her BBC2 Americana show. The clips show Elles totally at home in the environment, something uplifting for someone who has previously experienced imposter syndrome.
Elles is clearly comfortable where she is. “The imposter syndrome was kind of around, maybe just before Beneath The Neon Glow was coming out, and it happened for quite a long time. I remember really feeling imposter syndrome as I was releasing that, I guess, because this album was written over such a long period of time and made over. So, I was really suffering.
“When we first started recording this album, I remember I had written a lot about it because I felt like a different person from the person I was when I recorded Blessed and Dandelions. I feel worlds away from that person, and yeah, I felt comfortable in Maida Vale. I was able to enjoy it. I had a flutter of nerves, but I wasn’t like cripplingly nervous or anything. I just felt like, just enjoy it.
“I’ve got such an amazing team of musicians around me on the record, and live, it’s very comfortable being around them. I’m sure there’ll be times in my life where I’ll go through imposter syndrome again. I think we do. I feel like I’ve stepped out of that now.
“It’s interesting because I’ve worked with Rob Blackham, a photographer. He did the photos for Neon Glow. He’s done the photos for this. And he brought that up. He was like, when we did the photos for Neon Glow, you were actively talking about how you felt like this real feeling of an imposter. He said I’m not seeing that now on this set of recordings or pictures.
“So yeah, I guess I have changed over time. But this album has been made over such a long period of time that you would expect change and hopefully growth as well, because I feel like as an artist, I’m always wanting to have growth.”
The full UK tour is once again hitting some good-sized venues. I assumed that these were bigger than the last tour, but Elles puts me straight. We talk about the Bristol date, which is obviously special to her as it’s her hometown. “Last time I played, it was called SWX. What’s so great about SWX or Electric is I feel like it’s a venue you can grow with. It’s such a great venue. It’s got such great specs there.
“I think you can fill it and yet it will still feel intimate, which is something that I really like. I’ve played Islington Assembly. I’ve not played St. Luke’s, but it’s sort of similar sizes. So, we’ve kind of gone with similar-sized venues to last time. But I feel like I took a big step up from Shining to Beneath The Neon Glow, and you know it still feels like the right level to tour at.
Suddenly, I touch a nerve which we later laugh about. I mention how disappointed we were that Elles had to pull out of 2024’s Steelhouse. She explains that she was devastated. “Oh my God. I cried so hard. I was so gutted. I’ve always wanted to play Steelhouse. There’s been a couple of years where I’ve not been able to do it. Then I got that booking. I was so excited.
“I was doing the Bernie Marsden tribute, which you can’t replicate again. So, it wasn’t like I was just turning down or unable to do a festival. I was unable to do that as well. I was so poorly. There was just no voice. I did whatever I could. If I cancel a gig, it is because there’s no physical way I can do it. It costs so much money. Like it’s thousands to cancel a show, and as an independent artist, you can’t carry those losses.
“I had to cancel two in 2024. Steelhouse was one of them and I was so heartbroken. I hope they’ll have me back. I saw, Mikey, right? I saw him the other day. I was like, please do think of me. I’d love to come back.”
It turns out Elles tried to come back to the festival in 2025, but once again was sick with the same symptoms. Maybe the good people at Steelhouse can get Elles up the mountain in 2027.
Being on the road is a recipe for illness, as we know. Elles is very conscious of the potential for being sick. She tells me that her partner on the in-store tour, Demi, has been checking on her and that she was feeling good. It’s particularly important given the length of time that she was unwell in 2024, as she explains. “My son’s got a little cold now. I’m like, I can’t get cold. I can’t get cold. I was sick for months after Steelhouse. I was basically immune-compromised for about nine months, which was really hard on the road, going into the Beneath The Neon Glow tour.
“I’m now at a point where I’m feeling a lot better, but it’s taken almost 18 months. But I am taking so much to help. I’m taking all different kinds of mushrooms. I’m taking super greens. I’m taking turmeric. I’m now going to be starting to take collagen, probably because I’ve just reached the age where you should probably take collagen. But I was like, my gosh, I’ve rattled the amount of stuff that I take because I’m so terrified of getting sick after so long being poorly.”
As we close our conversation, it’s one of those questions which reveals what the inner Elles is about. The best thing about touring? “The best thing is rocking out on stage with a band, but also still being able to get up close and personal with an audience, which is what I like.
“If you see me live, I’ll clamber onto the barrier and maybe go out into the audience like that. I love to get as close as I can to an audience. The worst thing is the late nights. I hate them. I’m such an old lady, and I just want to be tucked up in bed by like 10:30. So, I’m all for early gigs.
“When gigs are booked, if it’s late doors, I will stamp my feet and be like, this is not what I want. Please, can we have early doors and be going on at a sensible time? Because my sets are so long now as well.” With a set that stretches close to two hours, one can see Elles’ point.
You can hear Elles’ radio show on Planet Rock on Saturdays, repeated on Wednesday evenings, which was kind of spooky as she was on just before our interview. She assures me that Wednesday is a repeat but that everything is pre-recorded. But what about that playlist? “Some of it is me. Some of it is off the playlist. It’s quite a surprising thing. When they offered me, as an indie artist, you are always hustling. Then, every now and then, something comes off the back that is like a curveball, and Planet Rock was the curveball completely.
“When they offered it to me, I was like, what? I assumed they would want me to do a more specialist show. They said, we really like you as a presenter. I was like, okay then. But I do get to choose some of them. You can probably hear the ones I choose. But also, my producer and I work really closely together to build the whole track listing as well to make sure that it does feel like it would be something that I would pick, if that makes sense.”
As I laughingly suggest that the show needs more Thrash Metal, I am put down in the politest manner. “Oh, yeah, I’ve probably never played Slayer. That’s true.”
Elles Bailey heads out on the road for a substantial part of 2026. Can’t Take My Story Away is out today. A snapshot of a moment in time is how it is described. It is a perfect record, and one that will surely propel her to the next level. Visit https://ellesb.lnk.to/CTMSAPR to find out more.
Elles will also celebrate the release of the album with a run of stripped back, acoustic instores through January. All dates can be found at EllesBailey.com/tour. Elles and her band then head out on a run of UK and EU dates through February and March 2026.
