La Petite Mort (Album) - James

I was incredibly excited when I learned that James would be releasing their first full-length album since their 2008 return Hey Ma. I really liked that album – as well as the two mini-albums that followed, The Night Before and The Morning After which contained some beautifully poignant tracks, such as ‘Dust Motes’, ‘Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’ as well as the pounding ‘Ten Below’ and the anthemic ‘Shine’. Everything released by the band since their reunion demonstrated that they weren’t resting on their laurels, and instead were continuing to strive to produce music of a consistent high standard. The announcement of La Petite Mort therefore provoked great excitement from me. It also meant that the band would be touring again, and I finally managed to secure tickets to see them live in Bristol this November.

La Petite Mort has been described as an “uplifting” and “life-affirming” album, and that really shines through on the opening track ‘Walk Like You’ which, at seven minutes in length, feels like a miniature musical odyssey. It is an instantly captivating song, commencing the album with and shimmering and majestic piano riff, before Tim Booth’s familiar voice is heard. There are some powerful lyrics throughout this song, which demonstrate the band’s progression and evolution: “Welcome to our coming of age / To embrace, all that we’ve become” as well as a passionate declaration of “Let’s inspire, let’s inflame, create art from our pain”, which really appeals to my artistic and creative mind – and is my favourite track from the album.

Up next is ‘Curse Curse’ which has a very different feeling to it; a dance-anthem sound pulsates throughout, and yet it’s very accessible. Tim Booth described the song as sounding like “a different type of James song from any [they’ve] released”. It’s exciting and energised, and is compelling enough in its content to break through my lack of interest in dance/clubland music, and completely hook me in.

‘Moving On’ is an instant-classic of a James track, with an element of familiarity about it courtesy of the ‘Ring The Bells’-esque trumpet fanfares that blare out during the chorus. Like so many of James’ singles, there is a greater depth to the lyrics which will allow the song to endure and stand the test of time. One of the reasons I believe that a song such as ‘Sit Down’ holds up so well, is because there is a lot more to the song than just a memorable chorus, as the lyrics are about depression; and in the case of ‘Moving On’ the theme of death is prominent.

‘Gone Baby Gone’ is, for me, one of the less memorable tracks on the album, but it finds itself situated between two of the album’s most catchy and instantly memorable tunes (‘Moving On’ and ‘Frozen Britain’) which perhaps just make it seem inadequate by comparison. ‘Frozen Britain’ is charged with the energy that ran through the 2010 mini-albums, and acting as a call-to-arms urging people to get up and dance through its overtly sexual lyrics. It’s a little bit like ‘Bones’ by The Killers (only better!).

As we move into the second half of the album, the tone shifts once again; ‘Interrogation’ is a solid enough track, although it doesn’t quite do enough to warrant a near six-minute length (I think that ‘Walk Like You’ had already set the bar too high). ‘Bitter Virtue’ is a quieter and more intimate sounding track, with a sensual rhythm and Tim Booth’s relaxed purring vocals. One particular lyric in this track stands out to me: “No place for artists, fucked up and human, we’re not getting in”; I don’t think artists are (necessarily) any more ‘fucked up’ than anyone else, they’re just more aware of it.

‘All In My Mind’ has a beautiful piano tune, and a relatively simple arrangement by James’ standards, and yet is hugely effective. The song has a great chorus, and a feeling of understated majesty to it, with a grand crescendo in the Middle-8 that transitions smoothly into the final chorus. ‘Quicken The Dead’ then picks up the pace, and contains elongated vocal hooks that harken back to tracks like ‘Waltzing Along’ – the track continues the album’s recurring theme of ‘death’ yet there’s nothing morbid about this approach.

Album closer ‘All I’m Saying’ starts slowly and builds gradually, gathering momentum towards a dramatic and powerful chorus. Once again the death-imagery is prevalent throughout, as the song is about communicating with the dead. Tim Booth recently lost both his Mother as well as one of his closest friends, and so the desire to communicate with them via séances and dreams feels justified, and also enables the albums potentially depressing theme to feel positive and life-affirming.

La Petite Mort is an excellent album, which continues to justify the band’s reunion. They are out to create new and exciting music, not to simply cash in on their past glories (as many other reunited bands did). I’m very excited to finally be getting the chance to see them live, and look forward to hearing some of these songs in Bristol when November comes around.