One Of The Three - The James Band Archive

Category Archives: Era: All The Colours Of You

Our Sound Music – Review: JAMES - 'All The Colours Of You'

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Our Sound Music | Paul Laird | 5th June 2021

[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.

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Independent – James: ‘We were so hopelessly indie-schmindie...’

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Independent | Mark Beaumont | 5th June 2021

Though Booth is at pains to avoid painting All the Colours… as a political record, it’s nonetheless an unflinching reflection of the world in 2021. State-of-the-States lament “Miss America” attacks the USA’s inherent historic racism and “love of guns”. The brutal and cinematic “Wherever it Takes Us”, inspired by the Portland protests, follows an injured, tear-gassed protester transcending into a digital multiverse afterlife of pure data. And if their previous album was something of a lament for truth, democracy and humanity in an era with “white fascists in the White House”, the new album’s title track reads today like the door hitting the former president’s backside on the way out, likening Covid quarantine with being trapped in Trump’s “dis-United States” and declaring “he’s the Ku Klux Klan, coup-coup, coup-coup”.

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Hot Press – Review: Powerful effort from veteran rockers

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Hot Press | Will Russell | 4th June 2021

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.

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MSN – Review: James - All The Colours Of You

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MSN | Adrian Thrills | 4th June 2021

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

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Daily Express – New album breaks emotional boundaries

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Daily Express | Garry Bushell | 4th June 2021

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.”

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OMH – Review: James - All The Colours Of You

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OMH | John Murphy | 4th June 2021

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%)

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Skiddle – Manchester band James release brilliant new album 'All The Colours Of You'

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Skiddle | Staff Writer | 4th June 2021

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.

 

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Vanguard Online – All The Colours Of You’ by James - A Metaphorical Masterpiece

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Vanguard Online | Heidi Flood | 4th June 2021

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.

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Varsity – Interview - Jim Glennie ‘You want something that’ll make people dance’

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Varsity | Rishi Sharma | 4th June 2021

Positive change is something very much on the band’s mind; Jim mentioned that he’d spent the day sorting out potential festival dates. Touring has always been a key part of the band’s ethos: he tells me that the Stone Roses, Nirvana, and Coldplay have all opened for them in the past. “We’re renowned for having support bands that then go on to be much bigger than us!” he says. Jim tells me about the unique challenges they faced while on Neil Young’s Harvest Moon tour. “He was playing an acoustic tour”, he says. “So he said, ‘if you can play acoustically, you can come and do this tour.’ So we said, ‘Oh yeah! Great!’ And then of course we didn’t really know how to do it.” The massive crowds didn’t help the band’s nerves. “The first gig was at Red Rocks in Colorado, to 30,000 people – we were terrified! We had no gear! Normally we’ve got these huge, big amps, and you can hide behind the volume.” Despite their struggle with the acoustic setup, he describes the tour as ‘amazing’. “[The crowds] loved us. They absolutely loved us. And he [Young] treated us so well.”

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