Music career:
While attending Cherwell Upper School, Lavelle's music career started at 15 when he ran block parties in Oxford. At only 18 he started the Mo' Wax label, taking the name from his club night at the time, Mo' Wax Please. Around the same time he started the That's How It Is night with Gilles Peterson, which went on to become one of London's longest running nights.
In 1996 Mo' Wax released one of electronic music's most celebrated albums, DJ Shadow's seminal Endtroducing...... Soon after this Lavelle started work on an album with DJ Shadow under the name UNKLE. The resulting release Psyence Fiction featured collaborations with Richard Ashcroft, Mike D, Badly Drawn Boy and Thom Yorke. In 2003, he released a follow up to Psyence Fiction, titled Never, Never, Land, though this album saw DJ Shadow replaced by Richard File as the second full time member of UNKLE. It featured collaborations with 3D of Massive Attack and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age among others.[1]
He is a long time resident at Fabric in London, mixing the inaugural Fabric Live mix album.[2] He has also mixed three progressive house albums for Global Underground.
He has produced a number of film soundtracks, including Sexy Beast. Also an in demand remixer, he has reworked tracks by Garbage, The Verve, Beck and Massive Attack.[3]
In an August 2006 interview with The Skinny, Lavelle revealed that he was working with Chris Goss and Autolux on the follow up to Never, Never, Land, entitled War Stories. Of the album's direction, he said “It’s rawer than '‘Psyence Fiction’' and Never, Never, Land although it’s more in the vein of the traditional singer/songwriter. If the first record was UNKLE does hiphop and the second record was UNKLE does electronic, then this one is like UNKLE does rock, but it’ll hopefully still have its continuity.”[4]
Of other forthcoming projects, he revealed “I’m working on a film with Darren Aronofsky at the moment. It’s a collaboration between me and Clint Mansell who did the score, it’s to remix the score and do a whole new DVD package, the film is unbelievable. I’m working on a documentary about Abel Ferrara as well.”
He has recently finished working alongside his brother Aidan Lavelle on the soundtrack for the movie of the popular sci-fi series The X Files.
Lupe Fiasco mentions Lavelle along with DJ Shadow in the single "Superstar."
In 2010, he released another UNKLE album called Where Did the Night Fall with numerous collaborators such as Gavin Clark and Mark Lanegan.
Quotes:
"I became a DJ because I couldn't breakdance and I was no good at graffiti."
"I'm into a whole concept, it's a whole scene. I'm totally involved in it. We cover hip-hop fused music. We want to do this rock hip-hop thing. We are gonna launch a mad hip-hop/thrash fused band, a young Beastie Boys kind of thing. I'm into the total energy of the Beasties and that whole kind of skate thing. I want that energy and total madness surrounding the whole idea."
"We put out 200 records in 4 or 5 years, I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that again. I don’t think I could ever work like that again, it was just insane."
Wikipedia
The Sun
James Lavelle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The unavoidable sun weighs my head,
And what the hell have I done,
And you know,
I don't remember a thing
I don't remember
A thing
Am I placating the notes?
Should I fault
Cut off my tongue
So you say
Apparently I'm digging it in
I can't feel
A thing
[A thing, a thing, a thing, a thing]
And you've won
So I go bury my head
In the ground
Yet I won't lose what I said
In the sound of the words and the note that it brings
No I can't feel
A thing
Here it comes
The unavoidable sun
Of what's just happened
And what's been done
And you know
I don't remember a thing
I don't remember
A thing
But it keeps on coming and I stop
But it keeps on coming and I just stand still
But it keeps on coming and I stop moving
[But it keeps coming, it keeps coming, it keeps coming]
But it keeps on coming and I stop
And it keeps on coming and I just stand still
[But it keeps coming, it keeps coming, it keeps coming]
But it keeps on coming and I stop
And it keeps on coming and I just stand still
But it keeps coming and I just stop
So I stop running and I just stop
But it keeps on coming and I just stop moving
But it keeps on coming and it keeps on coming so I just stand still
But it keeps on coming and I just stand still
And I run, and I run, and I run, and I run.
In James Lavelle's song "The Sun," the lyrics depict a sense of overwhelming guilt, confusion, and a desire to escape from one's own actions. The recurring theme of the sun symbolizes the inevitable truth and consequences that cannot be avoided. The singer feels burdened by their own mistakes and is haunted by the memories they cannot recall. They question their own responsibility and accountability for whatever they have done. The line "Am I placating the notes?" suggests the person may be trying to appease or make sense of their actions through introspection, but ultimately realizes that they cannot undo the past.
The repeated phrase "I can't feel a thing" is a manifestation of emotional numbness or detachment. The singer mentions burying their head in the ground, symbolizing an attempt to escape the reality of their situation. Despite their efforts to forget or ignore what has happened, the consequences continue to haunt them. The repetition of "But it keeps on coming and I stop" suggests a cycle of running away from the truth, momentarily finding solace, but ultimately being confronted by the weight of their actions once again. The song ends with a desperate plea to escape, as the singer continues to run, emphasizing their inability to escape from their own guilt.
Line by Line Meaning
Here it comes,
The inevitable arrival of a new day
The unavoidable sun weighs my head,
The burden of facing the consequences of my actions
And what the hell have I done,
Expressing disbelief and regret over past choices
And you know,
Acknowledging that someone else is aware of the situation
I don't remember a thing
Having no recollection of what occurred
I'm done,
Feeling exhausted and finished
Am I placating the notes?
Questioning whether I am trying to appease others
Should I fault
Considering the possibility of blaming myself
Cut off my tongue
Contemplating silencing my voice
So you say
Acknowledging another person's opinion
Apparently I'm digging it in
Realizing that I am causing harm
I can't feel
Being emotionally numb
And you've won
Accepting another person's victory or success
So I go bury my head
Seeking refuge or hiding from the situation
In the ground
Finding solace in isolation
Yet I won't lose what I said
Persevering in holding onto my beliefs or words
In the sound of the words and the note that it brings
Finding meaning and significance in the expression of ideas
No I can't feel
Still lacking emotional response
But it keeps on coming and I stop
Feeling overwhelmed by the continuous challenges
And it keeps on coming and I just stand still
Choosing not to take any action in response to the difficulties
But it keeps on coming and I stop moving
Choosing to halt any progress or development
But it keeps coming, it keeps coming, it keeps coming
Emphasizing the relentless nature of the challenges
And I run, and I run, and I run, and I run.
Expressing the desire to escape or flee from the situation
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AARON SHORT, ALISA XAYALITH, THOM POWERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind