‘The last thing you want at this time is something that’s depressing and heavy,’ says James bass player Jim Glennie

James took up temporary residence at Broughton Hall, near Skipton, in May. Picture: Lewis Knaggs

JAMES’S “sweet 16th” studio album has arrived, topical and timely, poignant and punchy, arty and anthemic, as their 40th year looms.

Climate change (Beautiful Beaches), Trump’s tinderbox America (Miss America) and last April’s Covid death of frontman Tim Booth’s father-in-law (Recover) all colour All The Colours Of You, the Manchester band’s first release for their new label, Virgin Music.

That “Manchester” tag is now more historic than present day, Clifford-born Booth, 61, having long moved to the United States, and onwards to Costa Rica, Central America, on December 26 last year with his family, in response to the “weekly fires” ravaging their Topanga Canyon neighbourhood.

“California’s becoming ecologicaly unsustainable,” he posted on Twitter shortly afterwards, adding a second reason: “I anticipate a wave of white racist terrorism”.

Fellow founder Jim Glennie, 57, is settled in the Scottish Highlands. He and Booth and the band came together for the recording sessions on three separate occasions, but the production was done remotely, under pandemic restrictions.

“Basically, because of Covid, there was nothing we could do about that situation, though fortunately we’d written the songs, four of us starting the first big session in July 2018,” said Jim, speaking in early May, when James gathered once more, this time at the resplendent Broughton Hall, near Skipton, to rehearse and promote the new album.

“We did some more song-writing at Sheffield Yellow Arch Studios in April 2019 and a third session at Gairloch in the Highlands in August, and those sessions gave us everything we needed in terms of demos.”

“Amazingly, we’ve come out with an album that we’re incredibly happy with, when we could have had disastrous results,” says bassist Jim Glennie of James’s All The Colours Of You

When the band could not gather for formal recording sessions, serendipity played its hands when Booth gave an impromptu lift and his two neighbourly passengers turned out to be the wife and daughter of Jacknife Lee, Grammy Award-winning producer for U2, REM and Taylor Swift no less. A new partnership of the virtual variety was born, prompting Booth to call the album’s arrival a “miraculous conception”, given “all the s**t that went down in 2020”.

“Jacknife worked remotely from his studio, liaising with me and Tim, Tim working more closely with him as they were in the same valley,” said Jim, recalling how they deconstructed, reimagined and reassembled the demos. “Amazingly, we’ve come out with an album that we’re incredibly happy with, when we could have had disastrous results.

“It’s very dancy, very uplifting, very poetic, though there are dark lyrics about Covid and American politics, but we were aware of the need for lightness, and Jacknife has added some fun and humour within the songs. The last thing you want at this time is something that’s depressing and heavy.”

All The Colours Of You stretches the ever-experimental James soundscape to take in psychedelia, post-rock and rave in “another big jump forward for us on the back of the last three albums,” as Booth put it.

“Jacknife has pushed us and the songs somewhere new and it’s very exciting,” said Jim. “After all these years, we are still challenging ourselves and our fans, with each record re-setting our perimeters, but with pride in what we’ve done before.

“I think there are a few reasons for that. We’ve always been a band with a broad spectrum of what we can be, from folk music to hardcore dance and anything in between, so we don’t have a sound that we’re boxed in by.

“We’re always conscious of that, but also we don’t feel we have to prove anything, other than reacting to what we did before, pushing it further or pushing it away from that, driving towards an unknown destination. It is those strides, that push, that still makes you feel relevant and that you still have the right to be here.”

The artwork for James’s 16th studio album, All The Colours Of You, released on June 4

Since re-uniting in 2007 after a six-year hiatus, James have, if anything, become an even more popular live act. So much so, tickets have sold faster than ever for their seven-date autumn travels, when notorious Manchester reprobates Happy Mondays will join them on the road for the first time since 1988, kicking off at Leeds First Direct Arena on November 25.  

“Hopefully, this time they won’t steal our rider or try and spike my drink,” said Booth, when announcing the double bill, for which remaining tickets are on sale at wearejames.com/live.

Before then, James will head to the East Coast to complete a hattrick of Scarborough Open Air Theatre appearances on September 9, after shows there on May 22 2015 and August 18 2018.

“We always have a great night there – even back in the days when you had to cross the old moat to get to the audience!” said Jim. “We’re looking forward to another very special night on the Yorkshire coast.”

James last played a gig in September 2019 in Porto. “It’s painful to think it was that long ago,” said Jim, whose band’s headline show at Deer Shed 11 at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, was called off in both 2020 and now for this summer.

The reception will be louder than ever when they return at last. “I’m amazed that we’re still able to put on tours where there seems to be an exponential growth each time, with new people coming,” said Jim.

“That’s because we get a lot of play on BBC 6 Music, drawing 18-year-olds to the shows who don’t know the litany of hits.

“We don’t feel we have to prove anything, other than reacting to what we did before, pushing it further or pushing it away from that,” says James bass player Jim Glennie

“It’s a really exciting prospect to have the chance to play again. We’ve had a few false starts and cancellations, so it’s been difficult to get fully invested in it, because it could always change again, but it’s the essence of what we do, playing live, to show off the new album, trying out the new songs, and we need to get to that point again as musicians.”

The James anthems, from Sit Down to Born Of Frustration, Sometimes to She’s A Star, remain the driving force. “People like a sing-along, and those songs are the connection, the glue, that turn the night into being like a football crowd, but we take them on quite a weird ride to get to the big last blast, always leaving them sweaty, with a big smile, at the finish,” said Jim.

All The Colours Of You will be interwoven into the set list, and already James have been taking the songs to air while in residence at Broughton Hall. “We’ve come here not just to rehearse, but it was more that we needed to do other things, like doing radio sessions from here, and a couple of TV appearances that we have to film here,” said Jim, as this early May phone interview drew to a close.

“We’ve locked ourselves in a bubble, being Covid-tested before we arrived, so that we could do all the usual things we do to promote an album, but from one place. It’s a busy two weeks and you have to make the most of it.”

The band had done a session for Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 a few weeks earlier.  “That was done separately, remotely, before Tim came over and went into quarantine, so he did the interview for that one from America,” said Jim.

Such have been the changes rendered on the music industry, but not everything changes. Another year, another James album, that delivers affecting songs for now, especially Beautiful Beaches and Recover.

James play Scarborough Open Air Theatre on September 9. Tickets are available at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

James singer Tim Booth is sure to go surfing in Scarborough in September. Crowd-surfing, that is. Picture: Laura Toomer

Deer Shed Festival is off, blaming lack of Government support for event insurance

No Deer Shed 11, no James, no Tim Booth dance moves, as the 2021 festival is postponed

DEER Shed Festival has been postponed for the second successive summer under the pandemic cloud, this time the lack of viable Covid cancellation insurance being a hurdle too far.

Initially, encouraged by the Government roadmap to unlocking set in place on February 22, organisers Oliver and Katie Jones decided to go “full steam ahead” from July 30 to August 1 at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, Thirsk.

They vowed to “work flat out” to deliver “what looks like a full fat Deer Shed 11”. Now, however, they have announced the postponement of the “three-day wonderland of music, arts, science and sport for all ages”, headlined by Stereolab, James and Baxter Dury.

New dates are in place for Deer Shed 12 from July 29 to July 31 2022, and the back-up plan of “exciting” new Base Camp Plus is in place for this summer.

In a website statement to Deer Shedders under the title “The bad news”, Oliver and Kate say: “We have made the decision to postpone Deer Shed until 2022. Many things remain uncertain for festivals this summer, but the lack of Covid cancellation insurance is the one hurdle we have been unable to clear.

“Earlier in the year, we were hopeful a Government-backed Covid insurance scheme would be in place, but we now have no reason to believe it will be despite frantic industry lobbying.”

The statement continues: “Deer Shed is still a 100 per cent independent family owned and run festival, and the risks of running without insurance leave Kate and myself financially exposed well beyond our comfort zone.

“We will, of course, offer ticket refunds for Deer Shed 11 or rollovers to Deer Shed 12. We really appreciate those of you who will again be able to support us by rolling over your tickets to 2022.”

Full details on the postponement can be found at: deershedfestival.com/dsf11postponement/, where all manner of questions are answered too. Any further questions should be emailed to info@deershedfestival.com.

Refunds applications should be made by April 29. Alternatively, Deer Shed can provide a voucher to the 2023 event if you cannot make the 2022 dates.

Under the headline “The good news”, Oliver and Kate confirm they instead will run a smaller event within their comfort zone: Base Camp Plus, an upgrade on last summer’s “hugely successful” Base Camp, with extra bits, on the July 30 to August 1 weekend.

This will take the form of “a safe camping weekend in Baldersby Park, with plenty of space, loads of camping options, including your own loo,” says the organisers. “Park next to your pitch, book next to your mates, bring the dog…

Oh deer: Deer Shed Festival’s announcement of this summer’s postponement

Plus live music and comedy performances (at last!), food, drink, partying, campfires, workshops, theatre, well-being, swingballs and anything else we dream up.

“Of course, the plus does rely on continued progress in the unlocking roadmap. We will have more details in the coming weeks, space is limited, so register your interest and be first in line when we release tickets.” To express that interest, visit the website.

Looking ahead, the line-up for Deer Shed 10 last summer had rolled over to Deer Shed 11, but this will not be the case for 2022.

“After carrying the line-up over once before, we feel a fresh start for 2022 is necessary, particularly with some fantastic recent additions to the Deer Shed music and arts booking team,” say Oliver and Kate.

We know many of you were looking forward to seeing the acts billed at Deer Shed Festival 11, but we strongly believe this is the best option for facilitating the most exciting line-up possible next year.”

Deer Shed Festival joins early June’s Download Festival, at Donington Park, Leicestershire, and August’s five-day Boomtown, at Mattersley Estate, Hampshire, in announcing their cancellation this week in light of the Government still refusing to offer festival insurance against Coronavirus to such outdoor events.  

All eyes now will be on Yorkshire’s biggest open-air event of the summer, Leeds Festival, set to play to full crowds with Covid-secure protocols in place from August 27 to 29 at Bramham Park, near Wetherby.

Festival organiser Melvin Benn, of Festival Republic, has been prominent in asking the Government to provide festival insurance, but Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has resisted such calls again this week.

In a nutshell, independent festivals are reluctant to throw money at non-refundable costs without the assurance of insurance being in place.

As for bigger events, such as Leeds Festival, Mr Benn says: “The worry about insurance is not confined to the smaller festivals, I have that worry too. We’re all working really tightly together on all of this – the big festivals and small festivals are being very collaborative.”

In a letter to the Prime Minister, 42 Conservative MPs are asking the Government to support a £250 million insurance scheme to enable event organisers to “ensure that live music festivals can proceed with their plans to go ahead after 21 June”.

Watch this space for what will happen next as Roadmap Step 3 and Step 4 unfold, with the tantalising prospect of freedom from lockdown measures on Summer Solstice Day.