ANDREWCOTTERILL; PAULDRINKWATER/NBCUPHOTOBANK/NBCUNIVERSALVIAGETTYIMAGESVIAGETTY IMAGES
The James gang, 2020: (l–r) Andy Diagram, Saul Davies, Adrian Oxaal, Jim Glennie, Tim Booth, Mark Hunter, David Baynton-Power
indie scene of the early 1980s has undergone numerous lineup changes, stylistic swerves, breakups and breakdowns and has rarely been easy to pin down. Originally signed to Factory, James rose during the heady days of Baggy, when “Come Home” and “Sit Down” became outlier indie-dance anthems. In the ’90s, during a fruitful collaboration with Brian Eno, the likes of “Laid”, “She’s A Star” and “Destiny Calling” shoved them into a short and awkward clinch with Britpop. Following a hiatus in the early ’00s, they have continued to flourish into middle age. The trials of the past year, however, threw up an urgent existential question: what makes James James? All The Colours Of You offers new and convincing answers. Though the band have not been in the same room since September 2019, in absentia they have made what they consider to be one of the finest records of their career. “We called this band James because it’s the name of a human being,” says Booth. “We want to be as multi-dimensional as a human, rather than as narrow as a band.” The chorus chant on another new track is both a mantra and a manifesto: “We’re all in, wherever it takes us…”
“THERE’S A MAGICAL LANGUAGE BETWEEN US” TIM BOOTH
A
LL The Colours Of You was made in extreme circumstances. During its creation, James parted from their original producer, Booth lost his fatherin-law, while singer and band were separated by 5,000 miles. It only worked, says Glennie, because they already had the raw material for new songs – and because they’re old hands at improvisation. Every James album begins with the four songwriters – Booth, Glennie, Davies and keyboard played Mark Hunter – convening over several days to play without any 56 • UNCUT • JUNE 2021
James acolyte Jacknife Lee,2013
discernible road map. “It’s one of the most difficult but fulfilling parts,” says Davies. “To get in a room with Jim, Mark and Tim and make a racket.” “It’s so delicate,” says Booth. “On the best days it’s ke we go into a trance. We’re listening to each other o intently that we create a third thing that’s separate o us. It may be the best and most joyful thing about eing in James. It’s private, it’s secret – a magical anguage between the four of us. It is the essence f what we are.” The path to All The Colours Of You began in July 2018 ith exploratory sessions in rural Yorkshire, then later n Sheffield and Gairloch, a village near Davies’ primary residence in Poolewe on the Scottish west coast. Afterwards, each member started working remotely on the long, formless musical pieces: chopping them up, adding, subtracting, shifting sections, exchanging ideas. The hard work, says Glennie, “is trying to cobble those hour jams into listenable five or six minutes that we call demos”. At this point in the creative process, James normally rent an Airbnb and come together again for a few weeks to finish the record. This time, it wasn’t possible. When the pandemic struck last March, Booth was in California, the rest of the band in Europe. They had studio time booked with producer Charlie Andrews, “but Covid made it really difficult”, says Booth. “Also, he ended up blowing us out for Alt-J! We love Charlie and we’ll hopefully make another record with him again.” Their record company forwarded names of potential new producers. They all seem astonished that Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee – whose list of credits includes U2, REM and Taylor Swift – agreed to work with them. “He’d normally be out of our league,” says Booth. Fate lent a hand when Booth discovered that he and Lee lived in the same canyon, two
