James’ debut album was released way back in 1984, but the indie band were famed around the Brit Pop era. At their peak, their 1999 album Millionaires reached Number Two.

Their 1990 single ‘Sit Down’ from Gold Mother certainly made their breakthrough – a prevalent anthem still today. From there the 1993 catchy track ‘Laid’ from Laid continued James’ momentum and this momentum prolonged with another memorable 1997 single ‘She’s a Star’ from Whiplash. Fans will have their own favourites from their extensive discography.

After peaking in 1999 James held their final live performance in Manchester in 2001. Frontman Tim Booth then headed for a short solo career. And recently James have been announced as Glastonbury Festival’s opening band on The Other Stage. An outstanding comeback for the Manchester band.

In a blog on James’ website, the band discuss the process of creating their new album:

After 13 albums you know which songs are likely to bear fruit from rough jams, but sometimes a song blindsides you, an outsider becomes a favourite, the favourite falls away. Our process is pretty intuitive. Anyone in James who really has a vision for a song has the opportunity to work on it, on their own or in a smaller group. Songs that were popular by general consent got thrown back into the room at RAK studios to be worked on by the whole band, and ultimately recorded when we felt we had the parts.

James’ UK live tour begins in May:

2/5 – Colston Hall – Bristol

3/5 – Cliffs Pavilion – Southend-on-Sea

4/5 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire – London

6/5 – O2 Forum – London

7/5 – Brixton O2 Academy – London

9/5 – Norwich UEA – Norwich

10/5 – Bournemouth O2 Academy – Bournemouth

12/5 – Venue Cymru – Llandudno

13/5 – Manchester Arena – Manchester

14/5 – First Direct Arena – Leeds

15/5 – Hull City Hall – Kingston upon Hull

17/5 – Newcastle City Hall – Newcastle

19/5 – The Hydro – Glasgow

20/5 – Barclaycard Arena – Birmingham

21/5 – Nottingham Royal Concert Hall – Nottingham

The Girl at the End of the World tour continues in the summer festival season:

24/6 – Glastonbury Festival – Worthy Farm

8/7 – Ejekt Festival – Athens, Greece

16/7 – Festival Meo Mares Vives – Praia do Cabedelo, Portugal

20/8 – Beautiful Days – Devon

11/9 – OnBlackheath – London