Charmingly accented, flame-haired Irish troubadour Gavin James was a seasoned entertainer well before he began recording songs—he formed his first band not long after he picked up the guitar at age eight. That may explain the uncanny maturity and gentle curveballs that surface in even his poppier moments. He released an earnest piano cover of The Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love”, subtly saluted Alanis Morissette with 2015’s slow-burning “Bitter Pill” and, on 2018’s heartache album Only Ticket Home, balanced Coldplay-calibre pyrotechnics with moments of quiet introspection.