With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

James have a new album out on 12th April, their 18th studio record. That number makes me feel old, how about you? But one thing I love about James is that there is never a reliance on resting on tried and tested success from the past, this is not a collection of “Sit Down” clones, nor is it a rehash of my favorurite James album ‘Laid’ (1993). ‘Yummy’ is the work of a band that is still vibrant and most definitely relevant. Not bad for a band that formed in 1982 and released their first album in 1986! The lyrics throughout are sharp, incisive and full of the whole range of human emotion. There is nothing nubilous in Tim Booth’s lyrics. ‘Yummy’ was produced by Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker, Jon Hopkins, Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor) and mixed by Cenzo Townsend (Courteeners, The Specials, Everything Everything).

The album opens with the single “Is This Love” where musically, lyrically and vocally the band is firing on all cylinders. How could you not love lyrics like “Love is a bomb, a Tsunami that rolls over our life as we cling to the wreckage of our peace of mind”. This stands, for me, as one of James’ finest singles to date. The way that “Life Is A Fucking Miracle” evokes the work that Brian Eno did with David Byrne, with added bird noises is rather wonderful. The melody and beat have a Talking Heads feel about it too. But what raises this song above so many is the way the melody plays tag with the beat and Booth’s voice. He is right, life is indeed a fucking miracle. I love the injection of a pronoun refrain towards the end too. The backing vocals on “Better With You” evoke a slightly more subdued Fabulous Wealthy Tarts (Paul Young’s backing vocalists from the early 80s) performance. The song feels like a love song, but not an obvious love song, so some wonderfully typical James obliqueness then, right? “Stay” is a song that oozes hope and is a call to arms to the younger generation to stay and fight for the planet and themselves. Well, that is what I took from words like “Life’s a struggle of love, and often a struggle to love“.

If this album is a universe, then it has as its sun “Shadow Of A Giant”. This is an elaborate and yet simple epic tune. From the orchestral and piano driven overture through to the almost gospel-like refrain of the chorus. Who is the giant that Tim Booth is singing about? Honestly, I am not sure, could it be God, government, Gaia, parents or Booth as a rock god? Whatever you feel the subject of this anthemic, and beautiful tune is you cannot deny that it is beyond special and for me the best song on this stunning collection. In case you were wondering I think the song is about Gaia, or the living planet. The protagonist of “Way Over Your Head” appears to be someone who has found it hard to handle life and succumbed to addiction, maybe alcohol or drugs. I think it has a message that shows how close we probably all are to a horrendous break down if our luck and circumstances changed quickly or catastrophically. Sometimes all we need are friends and perhaps we all need “a simpler life, a spit of land, community“. Booth takes a shot at AI and the modern curse of technology in “Mobile God” and how we are all controlled by that slim little box of apps made of plastic, metal, and glass. The lyrics are incredibly dark and in contrast the music and chorus hook make you feel instantly happy. I think Tim Booth speaks for all of us and our electronic device addiction when he sings “I’m the last thing you stroke in the evening before bed, I’m the lover you touch in the morning“. Talking about AI Booth says, “It’s shocking the way we’ve given up our responsibility to AI, We are already cyborgs“.

James take issue with the corporations that see themselves as running the world in the OMD-like “Our World”. I love the positivity in the message that perhaps the human family will come good, and we will learn to share not spoil. In my heart I long for that to happen, but I fear that it never will. In a message to the greed mongers the lyrics state “Our world isn’t your world, you just stole the world“, that is the truth in my view. I don’t believe that ageism is as bad as it might have once been, but we need to embrace the knowledge and experience that age brings to many of us (not everyone though!). When Booth sings “I’ve been a punk, a saint, a fool, Vishnu” I think to myself that in my own head I have been two of those and in a fashion sense one of them! The introduction to “Hey” suggests a real dance vibe and like many of the songs here it would be a prime candidate for a really good dance mix. It deals with our world and its conspiracies, notably the UFO stories. When Tim sings “my UFO’s landing soon” he means it. He says this of the whole UFO conspiracies, (or are they just hidden stories) “In the past the government has ridiculed/threatened anyone who said anything about UFOs. The two CIA whistleblowers have now provided us, with the Government’s blessing, with radar and cockpit pilot footage. [Theoretical physicist] Michio Kaku has said the burden of proof is now with the sceptics to prove UFOs don’t exist because we have the proof that they do. And yet no one, in the mainstream is looking at it. It’s fascinating to me how in denial we can be now that very strong physical evidence is being produced, and that this hasn’t become the biggest story of the century“. “Butterfly” perhaps discusses the fragility of the current generation but continues to believe in the power of the youth and their ability to change the world. The orchestration and harmonies on “Butterfly” will send shivers down your spine, in a wonderfully, quasi-religious way in which you can imagine rock ‘n’ roll actually having the ability to save the world. This is the song from which the album draws its title (the “yummy, yummy, yummy” lyrical refrain) and the inspiration for the record’s cover. As artists get older, they often deal in songs of death, notably David Bowie and Leonard Cohen on their final albums. On album closer “Folks” James confront the reaper and they don’t fear him. Musically the song is 100% James, but it has a mood of both Richard Hawley and the Arctic Monkeys at times. ‘Yummy’ showcases a band that is firing on all cylinders musically, lyrically and vocally. Many of James’ contemporaries are showing signs of being past their prime, but Booth’s band of merrie men (and women) are still on an upward trajectory! You can catch the band live around the UK in June and if you are a James mega fan the deluxe 2 CD release of ‘Yummy’ contains a second CD called ‘Pudding’ and that incorporates demos produced by the four songwriters in the band. Another twelve tracks! Finally, Tim Booth has written a novel called ‘When I Died For The First Time’ Apparently it is “A dark comedy musing on the music industry, addiction, racism, altered states, creativity and love, written from the point of view of a fucked-up singer coming back from rehab” The book is published on 28 March 2024.

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