Never ceasing to surprise, James have over 34 plus years morphed from Factory label indie pop underdogs into something closely approximating stadium favourites. For sure, they have never attained A-league proportions, but by golly they have come close, attaining an uncommon level of love and support over the years from a devotional fanbase, helped by a number of significant factors; their loosely outsider/underdog status; their hit single period that included perennial favourite Sit Down, as well as Come Home, Sound, Star and the marvellously risque Laid; their continuous appetite for experimentation and the creative pushing of the envelope; the appealing theatrical outpourings and stage personality of Tim Booth; and their relative lack of bullshit and pretention. It's been a potent cocktail, one that has been both endearing and enduring. Born out of the hugely inspirational post-punk and new wave landscape of the late 70s and early 80s, where bands were often formed from a seemingly uncomplimentary collection of untutored musicians, and youthful naivety, James have stood the test of time.

And the surprises keep-a-coming. Lead track Bitch could be a reworking of an old Hawkwind tune, such as Spirit of the Age, built on bass and synths. Just saying James and Hawkwind in the same sentence might have some spitting out their tea, but it's a prime example of how the band have always embraced an experimental, dance-flavoured spirit. And here, James let their inner psychedelic space-rock out, all the while Booth singing his usual mix of stream-of-consciousness meets heart-on-sleeve lyrics: “I'm in love with the fever of life, San Franscisco, northern lights / I'm in love with the freedom of speech… rude health, electricity, my life is rich and full / so why do I bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch."

The krautrock, space-rock, electro-dance grooves are strewn across much of this, their 14th album, all of them but the first two, top twenty affairs. To My Surprise combines these trance/krautrock qualities, but with a surge of epic 90s synth-pop chops, underpinned by a tinny drum machine beat, one of the more memorable melodies on offer here, and Booth’s stream-of-consciousness writing approach. Meanwhile, Dear John, a song about the ending of a relationship, continues the bubbly Kraftwerkian sounds, as does the uplifting Surfer’s Song, swirling and trance grooves underpinned by a fast-paced kick drum

Perhaps it is not so much a surprise when you learn that James, the band, have always written music that emanates from jamming, and have always seen the live arena as their natural home. Rarely does anyone come in to the studio with a song, or even a fragment. Rather they worked up ideas often from scratch, all the songs developed from jams, before editing down and re-shaping what they had for the final versions. In turn, Booth would either lyrically improvise on the spot, or come back later with lyrics.

Their confident, anything goes, approach has been nurtured over the years, where chaos is their friend. For instance Nothing But Love is an epic, folk-based sing-a-long affair, that James are in the habit of offering up every now and then, and which will no doubt be an integral part of their forthcoming live set: "Nothing but love, gives the world some meaning, nothing but love is the drug of healing." Brian Eno, who produced their 1994 album Wah-Wah, contributes some synth work here. Then there’s Feet of Clay, which sees the band turn their hand to a little bit of country-pop, and Attention is several songs in one, beginning with piano-led balladry, before this morphs into a gentle psychedelic trance workout, which in turn moves swiftly up the gears as the drama unfolds, with a whiff of U2 doing techno entering proceedings…

While James’s previous offering La Petite Mort was a relatively personal affair, Booth concerned with issues of mortality throughout, Girl At The End Of The World, as depicted on the colourful cover artwork, is a more eclectic and generally uplifting and spirited record, showing James to be a band still able to tap into their inner youth, the obvious excitement and exuberance of the band on show throughout, despite their veteran status.
Jeff Hemmings