"Let It Go" is a song by English singer-songwriter
James Bay. It was released in Europe on 15 September 2014 through
Republic Records as the first single from Bay's second extended play of the same name. It was included on Bay's debut studio album Chaos and the Calm (2014). The song was written by Bay with
Paul Barry and produced by
Jacquire King. The Let It Go EP was released prior on 3 May 2014.
The song was re-released in March 2015 after "Hold Back the River" and peaked at number 10 on the
UK Singles Chart in July 2015, beating its previous peak of 62 on 27 September 2014.[1] In May 2015, "Let It Go" peaked at number 8 in Australia, whilst in
New Zealand, the song debuted on June 15, 2015, at number 31, before climbing to number 24 the following week. A week after that, the song entered the top 10 of the chart, peaking at number 10. "Let It Go" is Bay's first song to chart on the
Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 16. A remix by Jack Steadman was released in 2015.
Music video
A music video to accompany the release of "Let It Go" was first released onto
YouTube on 23 March 2015.[2]
Critical reception
Gregory Robson of AbsolutePunk called "Let It Go" a "rising current of despondency, heartache and powerhouse vocals" and "the clearest example of who exactly Bay is, that is, supple instrumentation, gauzy textures and that ageless croon".[3]