James formed in Manchester in 1982, when Paul Gilbertson (guitar), Jim Glennie (bass), and Gavan Whelan (drums) met Tim Booth (vocals) at Manchester University and asked him to join their fledgling band. During the next year, James became regulars on the local club circuit, and by 1983 they had signed to Factory, releasing their debut EP, Jimone, later that year. Two years later, their second EP, James 2, was released, and Morrissey, the lead singer of the Smiths, publicly endorsed the group, asking them to open for his band. By the summer of 1985, Larry Gott had replaced Gilbertson, and the group signed to Sire Records. Working with producer Lenny Kaye, the group recorded its debut, Stutter, that year, releasing it in early 1986 to generally positive reviews.
Over the next two years, James toured constantly, building up a solid fan base. They released their second album, the folky Strip-Mine, in 1988. The record failed to capitalize on their live following, and the band departed Sire the following year, signing with the independent Rough Trade. On their new label, James released the moderately successful "Sit Down" and the live album One Man Clapping, which climbed to number one on the indie charts. In 1990, Whelan was replaced by David Baynton-Power, and James expanded to a septet with the addition of keyboardist Mark Hunter, violinist Saul Davies, and trumpeter Andy Diagram. The new lineup signed to Fontana Records and released Gold Mother in the fall. Following a handful of minor hit singles, Gold Mother finally became a breakthrough success in the spring of 1991, when a re-recorded version of "Sit Down" -- now boasting a contemporary baggy beat -- climbed to number two on the U.K. charts and became a staple on U.S. modern rock radio. Although the success of "Sit Down" was a blessing, it also was a curse, as the single became all James were known for. The band began to rebel in concert, playing almost nothing but new material, and its next album, 1992's Seven, was perceived as a misguided stab at big arena rock.
For the follow-up to Seven, James stripped away Diagram and worked with producer Brian Eno. The resulting record, Laid, was a quieter, more ambitious album, and it received some of the band's best reviews. While the album was ignored in the U.K., it was an alternative rock hit in the U.S. on the strength of the title track, which became a crossover hit. During the Laid sessions, James recorded another album's worth of experimental music with Eno that was released in the fall of 1994 as Wah Wah. The album received mixed reviews and the group took an extended break throughout 1995, partly due to guitarist Gott's departure. In 1996, Tim Booth recorded a collaboration with composer Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) entitled Booth and the Bad Angel, which received generally positive reviews.
With guitarist Adrian Oxaal in tow, James returned in early 1997 with Whiplash, a more straightforward record that was greeted with mixed reviews. Released in 1999, Millionaires, recorded with new guitarist Michael Kulas, was initially released only in the U.K. Their spectacular follow-up, 2001's Pleased to Meet You, was also available only in the U.K. A few months later, frontman Tim Booth announced his departure from the band he founded nearly 20 years before, and James called it quits following a winter tour of the U.K. in December 2001. The break was short-lived, however, as the band re-formed in 2007 and embarked on a tour in support of the double-disc compilation Fresh as a Daisy: The Singles. The following year saw the release of Hey Ma, James' tenth studio album.
The band returned in 2010 with a pair of "mini-albums" called The Night Before and The Morning After, respectively, before late 2011 brought a short, but novel, U.K. tour (the Orchestra of the Swan and the Manchester Consort Choir were their backup bands). In 2012, the lavish and long-awaited box set The Gathering Sound was issued, and included previously unreleased audio material alongside long-unavailable video concert footage. Details of the Max Dingel-produced La Petite Mort emerged in February 2014, and this first post-Mercury studio album was released four months later in June. Dingel then returned to produce their 2016 record, Girl at the End of the World. Written in Scotland and recorded in London, the album was described by the band as "big but personal, abrasive but warming" and "ultimately uplifting." Two years later, James teamed with producers Charlie Andrew and Beni Giles for Living in Extraordinary Times.
During the 2020 pandemic, Tim Booth teamed up with his Topanga Canyon neighbor Jacknife Lee to construct the basic tracks the rest of James completed while in quarantine. The resulting All the Colours of You was released in June 2021.
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There are other artists using the same name:
2) James is the vocalist of popular Bangladeshi band Nagar Baul. He was a member of the band Feelings and later formed the band Nagar Baul. James was raised in Chittagong and later moved to Dhaka for his singing career. Stylishly longhaired James--overwhelmingly known as the Nagar Baul (the City Bard), was the pioneer of psychedelic rock in Bangladesh. Originally a lead singer and guitarist, he has always been respected for his solo projects. He became affectionately called Guru by his fans. His tunes were bright and his singing a divergence from the archetypal tunes preferred by the commercial-type directors. His songs expressed love, rage, discontent, frustration, and happiness.
3) A Dutch rapper connected to the Fakkelteitgroep.
4) James Lee - known as James - was a former member of Royal Pirates, a South Korean band. On 2015, he got into an accident that caused him unable to play bass any longer. Hence, he decided to left the band.
James moved back to Los Angeles and decided to release music written post accident in a project called ’the Light EP’ consisted of 5 tracks. (http://jamesleeofficial.com/)
Dream Thrum
James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She cast you in her mind
She made your face of clay and straw
Precious stones for your eyes
We cut the cord that brought you here
We left you on your own
We filled your head with wild ideas
Our beliefs led you on
To keep your hopes alive
This surface may seem calm enough, but underneath
But underneath
We made you feel the way you are is wrong
We made you what you are
You are afraid
If you don't play the game we'll make you change
Ohhh I'll change (X7)
I'll change
I'll change
The lyrics of James's song Dream Thrum appear to be a commentary on societal expectations and our conformity to them. The line "she cast you in her mind" suggests that we create expectations of others, projecting our own desires onto them. The use of "clay and straw" and "precious stones" to create the imagined person's face suggests the artificiality of these projections. The chorus indicates that we fill people's heads with ideas and beliefs that may not be their own, forcing them to conform to our expectations.
The line "we made you feel the way you are is wrong" highlights the damaging effects of societal pressure to conform to a particular mold. The repetition of "I'll change" suggests that the singer is acknowledging their own complicity in perpetuating these expectations and is perhaps committing to breaking the cycle. The use of "dream" in the title and throughout the song could also suggest that these societal expectations are not reality, but rather a construct of our collective imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
She dreampt the scene the night before
Last night, she had a dream about something that is going to happen today.
She cast you in her mind
She created an image of you in her imagination.
She made your face of clay and straw
She formed an unrealistic version of you in her head.
Precious stones for your eyes
She envisioned your eyes as being things of great beauty and value.
We cut the cord that brought you here
We separated you from your past and any sense of stability.
We left you on your own
We abandoned you to figure things out alone.
We filled your head with wild ideas
We influenced you with strange, unpredictable thoughts.
Our beliefs led you on
Our opinions and convictions set you on a certain path.
We leave a trail that's always changed
We intentionally leave a confusing path in order to keep you guessing and off balance.
To keep your hopes alive
So that you don't lose faith in the future or your own potential.
This surface may seem calm enough, but underneath
Everything may appear stable and safe, but there is more going on beneath the surface.
But underneath
Underneath, there is a lot of complexity at play.
We made you feel the way you are is wrong
We inflicted a sense of shame or guilt upon you about who you are as a person.
We made you what you are
Our influence has shaped who you are now.
You are afraid
You feel scared or anxious about the future.
If you don't play the game we'll make you change
If you don't comply with our rules or expectations, we will force you to adapt.
Ohhh I'll change (X7)
The artist is acknowledging that they themselves will have to change in order to keep up with the unpredictable and ever-changing circumstances.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: TIMOTHY BOOTH, LAWRENCE GOTT, JAMES GLENNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind