Musically, the mood of All the Colours of You is decidedly more upbeat than the intimidating, thwacking rock of 2018’s Living in Extraordinary Times, but the lyrics contain just as much venom. Pontificating about climate change, COVID, and politics, frontman Tim Booth provides his usual stinging commentary only this time around it’s wrapped in the band’s majestic amalgamation of anthemic stadium rock and alternative pop hooks. The inclusion of syncopated bass lines, electronic beats, and swirling sound effects create a sound that is both refreshingly unfamiliar yet fabulously James.
8/10 (80%)
Category Archives: Review
Our Sound Music – Review: JAMES - 'All The Colours Of You'
[James] A band who, perhaps better than any other, are capable of providing hope for the hopeless, light in the darkest of days and an embrace for the broken and lonely. Forever moving forward and always holding out a hand for us to cling to as they do. Not a band concerned with capturing the zeitgeist but, instead, a band who see, clearly, what matters most when other artists are blinded by what matters only to them.
Always, with James, we hear hymns from the village. The village of our own hearts and souls. The village of dreams and faith. The village of hope and belief. The choir sings, the congregation is united and, by the end, we are all lifted up, lifted higher.
With “All the Colours Of You” they have managed something unimaginable, something incredible…their best ever album. Oh, I know…I can hear you now. “What about…”. Well, what about it?
“All the Colours of You” may help to fix you, may bring energy to your weary bones and soul, may offer solace and consolation, may bring some strange companionship and will, no maybe, remind you that you are not alone.
Hot Press – Review: Powerful effort from veteran rockers
Epic, prescient themes – viral extremism, BLM, climate change and Covid – are personalised throughout the record. Some lyrics are giddy — on the title-track, the KKK are delightfully rhymed with and summarily dismissed as cuckoo [sic] and ‘Miss America’ is ardent — but James have long possessed an expert ability to create mass euphoria.
MSN – Review: James - All The Colours Of You
n a strong week for groups, Manchester veterans James deliver another album with an eye on forthcoming festival and arena shows.
All The Colours Of You plays to their strengths by tapping into singer Tim Booth’s knack of giving his personal lyrics a universal resonance. Its groove-based tunes and Jacknife Lee’s big production capture a band on a roll.
The title track touches on the challenges of lockdown (‘Haven’t hugged a human since the end of May’). The poignant electronic ballad Recover mourns the loss of Booth’s father-in-law to Covid-19 (‘We will remember how to pass your spirit on’). Beautiful Beaches,
Tim’s first-hand account of fleeing his former home in California due to bushfires, is both a climate change anthem and a hopeful, post-pandemic holiday song.
8/10
Daily Express – New album breaks emotional boundaries
James can make you laugh, dance and punch the air as well as weep. There is intelligence at work here and enough pleasure that on first hearing you barely notice Tim Booth’s heartfelt bombardment of agitprop. Many of the numbers have stings in their tale. The title track is sprightly and propulsive indie pop that packs an anti-racist punch. “Love all the colours,” sings Booth. “All the colours of you.”
Courier Mail – Review: James – All the Colours of You
The band may be Britpop at heart, but liberal use of synth often places them in similar territory to New Order or latter-day Coldplay, as heard on the title track – a view of Trump’s “disunited States” from lockdown – and the exuberant Beautiful Beaches, which celebrates finally getting out of Dodge or Kansas.
3.5/5
OMH – Review: James - All The Colours Of You
All The Colours Of You is … full of stirring anthems that you can imagine being belted out in the arenas of the country. Unlike many of their contemporaries though, there’s a freshness about the album, together with a few surprises.
Wherever It Takes Us harks back to the band’s experimental album with Brian Eno, Wah Wah, full of odd little ambient noises, a near spoken word vocal from Booth and some choral vocals for the uplifting chorus. It’s moments like this that All The Colours Of You really hits its mark – mixing James’ more accessible side with the experimentation that they’ve always been interested in.
Even at its most introspective, All The Colours Of You is an often invigorating return from a band who, despite their veteran status, still have their collective finger on the pulse.
3.5/5 (70%)
Skiddle – Manchester band James release brilliant new album 'All The Colours Of You'
Covering everything from world politics to climate change and the ongoing global pandemic, the seminal Manchester groups sixteenth studio album is, without doubt, one of their best.
Working remotely on the album from his Topanga Canyon Studio in Los Angeles with neighbouring frontman Booth, the pair collaborated virtually with bassist Jim Glennie to reassemble demos created back in 2019.
The resulting product is a collection of festival-ready anthems, boasting a refreshed and energetic sound the likes of which fans of James will have never heard before. An ambitious body of work, tackling themes of politics, the imminent global climate disaster, and life and death, with an accomplished sound to boot – All The Colours Of You is a perfectly timed release that’s set to resonate with huge audiences at live events throughout the summer.
Vanguard Online – All The Colours Of You’ by James - A Metaphorical Masterpiece
James’ 16th studio album ‘All The Colours of You’ is like a piece of artwork in audible form.
Each song on the album is unique, from the storytelling to the accumulation of instruments; every part of each song is like the brushstroke of a painting, each layer added creating a fantastic outcome, with lead singer Tim Booth even reiterating this himself with the belief ‘We think we’ve made a masterpiece.’
Since their debut with ‘Sit Down’ in 1991, James have shown that they are not one to sound similar to anyone else. With a band that have been going for so long, it would be understandable that their music would begin to sound the same as their last release. However, ‘All The Colours of You’ has proved that they do not fit this mould. Discussing the immortality of James, Booth expresses ‘The truth is we felt we were built to last’ . James’ latest album proved they were built more to last but were built to grow and evolve. The exploration of sound and lyricism on this record is unbelievable- it leaves the listener in awe of where each song is to take you.
For a band that have been around for almost four decades, there seems to be no slowing down in terms of their popularity and the stories they have to tell, as ‘All The Colours of You’ demonstrates.
God Is In The TV – Review: James – All The Colours Of You
Despite it being recorded, deconstructed and reassembled remotely, James have succeeded in delivering a solid album that reflects the talents of each member and it’s as astonishing as ever that a band with such longevity have been able to avoid nostalgia at all costs, continually experimenting with their sound and always challenging both themselves and their fans.
8/10 (80%)
Clash – Review: An eclectic and poignant offering from one of the UK’s most seminal bands
‘All The Colours Of You’ – the sixteenth studio album from Mancunian legends James – might just be their strongest offering to date from the band’s 38 year history.
Whilst there are still shades of James’ jangly indie-pop in parts, this album takes the band into a new sonic adventure where you hear lo-if leanings and pumping club beats.
8/10
The Phonograph – All The Colours Of You - 'carefully considered and meticulously put together'
Many musicians have shied away from talking about the Big C, for fear of what – losing timelessness? Feeling too obvious? Well, All The Colours Of You deals with COVID sharply, starkly, and unapologetically, proving that sometimes what seems obvious is necessary. The title track singes through lyrics about quarantine, the Ku Klux Klan, being caged, literally and metaphorically – but it doesn’t feel rushed or unimaginative. James are so seasoned by now that All The Colours Of You already, somehow, feels like a far off legacy of the time it was written in, unearthing the past in synthy grandeur and swelling power to tell its tales.
James have excellently blended their aptitude for writing bangers that shoot straight to iconic status with the moral need of bands to observe and reflect the world around us. It would be easy to say it feels effortless – James certainly have the prowess to nail it, and they have done, but every part of All The Colours Of You doesn’t feel effortless, it feels carefully considered and meticulously put together. James are world-class stalwarts of the indie scene, and on All The Colours Of You they prove why they have remained so since their conception as a band – they’re responsive. James consistently create top-quality music, but they keep growing in necessity and sensitivity.
8.5/10 (85%)