Stephen Day
Since first picking up a guitar as a high school student in Georgia, Stephen Day always knew he wanted to make a self-titled album. Even then, he understood that putting his own name on a record would come with one essential requirement: complete vulnerability and unwavering honesty. Across its 13 songs, Stephen Day - out October 2 - offers an intimate portrait of Day’s deepest emotions, weaving together every facet of who he is as a songwriter, musician, storyteller, and craftsman. From beginning to end, the listener can hear why he finally felt ready to present to them his namesake.
Co-produced by longtime collaborator Micah Tawlks along with multi-GRAMMY winning producer Ian Fitchuk the album demonstrates Day is a formidable, uncategorizable artist who’s able to flit between decades as well as genres—soft rock’n’soul, R&B, and pop—with effortless ease.
The album begins with the dreamy, hushed contentment of “It Is What It Is,” eases into the infectious groove of lead single “Rock Bottom Baby” before travelling back in time with the impassioned pop-rock of “Annie Breakdown” and “Yes I Do.” Indeed, the latter two tracks in particular capture Day’s modus operandi on this album perfectly. They sound like classic songs from the ‘80s, yet they’re simultaneously contemporary and fresh. Songs you swear must already have taken their place in the pantheon of music, but they’re Day’s brand new additions.
The delicate strains of “Mama, I Found Your Guitar” act as centerpiece to the album, giving you Day’s origin story. His father is a pastor, and his mother was a nurse practitioner who sang at church on Sundays. One afternoon, he found her guitar in a closet and asked her to teach him a few chords, which inadvertently set him on the path he’s still on.
Stephen Day is the next chapter for an artist that has already seen more than 200 million streams to date, received cultural co-signs from peers like Teddy Swims, Allen Stone, and Cory Wong, as well as a major motion sync placement in Universal Pictures’ Strays. Vulnerable, honest, in-focus snapshots of a generational songwriter, musician and storyteller. As the album closes with the wistful and bittersweet “Picture’s Perfect,” it sounds like the closing of one door and the opening of another. A loving retrospective on the Stephen Day of old and a welcome introduction to the Stephen Day of the future. The next stage of Stephen Day is self-titled.