Gavin James Only Ticket Home

Irish singer-songwriter Gavin James crafts songs with big emotional and rhythmic builds—think Ed Sheeran meets Mumford & Sons. He spent the time between his 2016 debut, Bitter Pill, and his sophomore album refining that anthemic approach to indie folk-rock, beginning with the thumping “Start Again.” Many of the album’s 14 tracks draw on pop rhythms and electronic synths to underscore his pangs of heartbreak with upbeat flourishes. But when he slows things down (“Always,” “Faces,” “Cigarette Break,” “Tired,” “Put You Back Together”), sad doesn’t mean quiet—a beating-heart bass drum catapults those confessionals upwards.