Chaos and the Calm is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter James Bay. It was released on 23 March 2015 through Republic Records. The Official Charts Company reported that Chaos and the Calm debuted at number one in the UK chart on Sunday 29 March 2015, having sold over 64,000 copies in the first week of release.

James Bay is a young British singer and songwriter whose heartfelt songs and passionate vocal style suggest a greater maturity and experience than one would expect from an artist whose debut album was released when he was 24 years old. Chaos and the Calm, Bay's first full-length album following a pair of well-received EPs, reveals he has a precocious talent as a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, and is just as comfortable with outgoing tracks like "Collide" as he is with intimate, personal numbers such as "Let It Go" as he winds together elements of pop, folk, rock, blues, and soul. Often compared to Ed Sheeran and Ben Howard, Chaos and the Calm shows James Bay has the style and the ability to stand on his own, and it's the work of a new performer with an impressive potential.
~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
A soulful singer/songwriter from a small English town with a penchant for crafting moving and evocative folk-pop confections in the vein of Ed Sheeran, Foy Vance, and Ben Howard, James Bay hails from the North Hertfordshire market town of Hitchin. Bay honed his skills regionally, eventually landing high-exposure support slots with Tom Odell, John Newman, and Kodaline before inking a record deal with Republic/Universal in 2012. He issued his debut EP, Dark Of The Morning, in 2013, with a second extended player, Let It Go, arriving the following year. Bay's first full-length album, Chaos and the Calm, appeared in March 2015, in time for him to play a handful of American dates, including showcases at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas.