James kick off the year with news of a Greatest Hits LP featuring two new songs and a short UK tour.
The album was due to be released before Christmas but was put back because singer Tim Booth was still suffering from the neck injury that caused the band to pull out of their Glastonbury and V97 performances last year.
The album called “Best Of” is released by Fontana on March 23. It is preceded on March 2 by a new single “Destiny”, produced by Ott, who has worked with Embrace, Elastica and Gene.
The single marks a departure for James. “It’s a mad little song about the whole notion of fame and success and the machine”, Booth told NME.
“I’m happy putting out a greatest hits album but it’s all part of the machine so the lyrics to the single highlight that. Watching MTV I get the impression that rock n roll is just as manipulative as any crap game show or chat show”
The album features material spanning from the band’s Factory days to the present and includes the single and another new track “Run Aground”
“It’s about general rock band attitudes to women”, Booth said of Run Aground. “When you’re in a band, you’re offered sex on a plate and you get to see what happens if you take that and if you then try to have a relationship of substance”
James play a handful of dates in April, by which time Booth hopes to be fit again.
“The Lollapalooza tour was hell for me” he said. “I was in a neck brace and in a lot of pain. It’s still not healed. I’m hanging upside down a lot at the moment. I’m gonna start doing some training soon.”
James play Manchester Apollo (April 11), Glasgow Barrowlands (April 13), Doncaster Dome (April 14) and London Brixton Academy (17).