An orchestral recording and tour, summer festival shows and a new studio album in the pipeline. Manchester indie rock band James enter their 40th year busier than ever. Singer Tim Booth talks to What’s On about their ongoing success...

To paraphrase one of their recent album titles, these are extraordinary times for James. As they prepare to celebrate their 40th anniversary, the seven-piece Manchester band have scarcely been in better shape - their last three albums have all made the top 10 and an arena tour in 2021 was their biggest-selling and most successful to date.

This year is set to be one of their busiest ever. The upcoming - and brilliantly titled - James Lasted tour will see them performing with a 22-piece orchestra and eight-strong gospel choir. There’s an album (Be Opened By The Wonderful) to go with it - featuring reimagined versions of some of their best-loved and rare tracks - festival shows in the summer, and an album of new material in the works.

Genial singer Tim Booth, interrupting work on his first novel (“about a f**ked-up singer”) to chat with me, is clearly revelling in the band’s golden era, especially since they’re very much a creative entity and not some nostalgia act trading on former glories.

“I’m in one of the best bands in the world, I’ve never doubted that,” he says. “They’ve always turned me on. It’s amazing after 40 years that when we get together in a room they always turn me on, and I hope I do the same to them. It’s just thrilling - we never know what’s going to happen.

“There are a number of great bands who have been around for 40 years. But to get here and to be having the best time of our lives; to be part of a supportive, loving family that still has something to say and new ways to say it; to be turned on by every gig and every song; to fall in love over and over again, Groundhog Day-style, with our bandmates and our audience. That’s time well spent.”

Those 40 years have seen the band sell more than 25 million albums, and while their profile might have dipped since Sit Down was kept off number one by Chesney Hawkes, ticket sales suggest they’re more popular than ever.

“To the general public we’ve probably disappeared, but we actually sell more tickets now than we did at the height of our fame. Young people and families are coming, generations are coming, and it’s really beautiful to witness.”

The current 15-date orchestral tour is long sold out, and while the venture might not be totally alien to the band - they did similar shows with the Orchestra of the Swan in 2011 - recording an album has upped the ante. Conductor Joe Duddell, who has also worked with the likes of New Order and Elbow, helped with the arrangements, but in typical James fashion, the track list focuses more on rarities and fan favourites than chart hits. 

“That’s so in keeping with our philosophy, which is basically that singles are a crapshoot and albums are what count to us and always have. We’ve got great songs hidden away on different records that didn’t get the attention they probably deserved, so it was a case of ‘this’d be great, let’s do this one’. 

“It’s that James arrogance and obsession to not just be known by our hits from the ’90s but to show people we’ve got a massive catalogue of songs that we spent a lot of time working on. Our fans know us for that depth and for setlist changes and not playing the hits all the time.”

I can vouch for that. The last time I saw the band, Tim gently reminded an audience member that coming to see James and hoping to hear a favourite song - from a back-catalogue of 300 - was a bit like buying a lottery ticket.

“We feel that one of the things that makes us unique and different and interesting, and has helped our longevity, is the fact that it’s a live event and you roll the dice.

“Occasionally someone will lambast me on Twitter because we didn’t play Sit Down, and they’ll get 20 responses from fans saying ‘We don’t want to hear Sit Down, we want to hear B-sides.’”

Varying the setlist won’t be as easy for the orchestral shows, but even though he admits there are a few set-pieces, Tim’s adamant that every night will be different. Not only can he claim “Joe knows how to dance with us,” but the band have a few surprises in store too. The orchestral album - which isn’t released until after the tour anyway - features 20 tracks, but a dozen more have been worked up and are waiting in the wings.

“That way we can rotate things a little. People will come to the gigs and go ‘that was my favourite song’ and then get the album and it won’t be on there!”

Does that mean there’s an orchestral version of my personal favourite, Just Like Fred Astaire? 

“Might be.”

Looks like I’ll be rolling the dice with everyone else at the upcoming Symphony Hall show then! 

Audiences at the band’s festival dates in the summer can be a little more confident of hearing songs they know.

“You can’t take as many risks at festivals because you’re often playing to an audience that aren’t yours. You want to make it easy for people - gigs are communication, and you’ve got to learn to adapt your communication so that you can be understood. But I’m sure some of the orchestral songs will linger into the set.” 

One gig likely to be a perfect hybrid of the two scenarios is the band’s show at the newly reopened The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton on 20 June. The gig is one of only a couple of theatre dates during the run of festival shows, but is one the singer says he’s looking forward to.

“I think the first time we played there was with The Smiths - I remember it being a wonderful venue and Morrissey flagging it up to me at the time. It’s a great venue with a great history. There are certain gigs that have a resonance, where there’s a power to it and you’re building on the backs of other bands that have been there before. That’s definitely one of them - it’ll be great to go back.”

by Steve Adams

James play The Halls, Wolverhampton, on Tuesday 20 June