Shooting Our Mouths Off

Back in May, indie legends James embarked on a seven-date UK tour in support of their Better Than That EP. On the opening night, they delighted fans by unveiling details of Living in Extraordinary Times, their fifteenth studio album. Over the following months, the band treated audiences to live previews of the new record, weaving its songs into their tour set-lists before taking them to festival stages throughout the summer.

James waste no time making their mark, opening Living in Extraordinary Times with the explosive ‘Hank‘ – a blistering anti-Trump anthem that packs one hell of a punch. From there, the familiar video-calling tone that introduces their latest single, ‘Coming Home (Pt. 2)’, rings out. A sequel to the synth-siren-fuelled classic ‘Come Home‘, the track explores the emotional toll of life on the road, tugging at the heartstrings with lines such as “my life is always leaving” and “missed you when you’re small.” By the time the hushed closing vocals of the tender love song ‘Leviathan’ arrive – “ride inside your starship, never twice the same trip, hold me in your tight grip, healing for the lovesick” – it’s already evident, just three songs in, that Tim Booth has once again delivered some of his finest lyricism.

Living in Extraordinary Times is a relentlessly rhythmic album, driven by a percussive backbone that pulses through almost every track. Nowhere is that more evident than on the hypnotic ‘Heads’ and the adventurous title track, which sees James fully embrace the unknown. Beginning with Mark Hunter’s atmospheric keyboard work and David Baynton-Power’s dramatic, measured drumming, ‘Living in Extraordinary Times’ gradually builds from restrained tension into pure euphoria. Lyrically, it’s one of the album’s boldest moments – “Fuck you, I wanna fuck you till we break through into other dimensions” – before exploding into a soaring, cathartic chorus that’s impossible not to picture being bellowed back at the band on future tours: “we can hold it all, hold it all together, in this never ending game of hide and seek.”

From the poignant introspection of ‘How Hard the Day’ and ‘Hope to Sleep‘ to the frantic energy of ‘Picture of This Place‘ – a richly layered centrepiece that showcases the band’s remarkable chemistry – Living in Extraordinary Times covers an impressive emotional and sonic spectrum. The unifying ‘Many Faces’ only reinforces the album’s versatility, proving that James have lost none of their ability to surprise while remaining unmistakably themselves.

Closing track ‘What’s It All About?‘ brings the record to a fittingly epic conclusion. Spanning seven-and-a-half minutes, it unfolds in two distinct halves: the first driven by menacing drums, piercing guitars and soaring trumpet flourishes, before giving way to a stripped-back refrain. As the instrumentation melts away, Tim’s voice is left to carry the album’s final moments, accompanied only by the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar and serene atmospheric textures, providing a reflective and deeply satisfying end to the journey.

It would be criminal not to mention the four bonus tracks included on the deluxe edition of Living in Extraordinary Times: the stunningly beautiful ‘Backwards Glances’, alongside demos of ‘Moving Car’, ‘Overdose’ and ‘Trouble’. It’s rare for an album’s bonus material to stand shoulder to shoulder with the main track-list, but that’s exactly the case here. ‘Backwards Glances‘, the heartbreaking ‘Overdose‘ and the irresistibly catchy ‘Trouble’ all made their live debuts the previous summer, with ‘Trouble’ in particular leaving a lasting impression on audiences long before the album’s release.

Fifteen albums into an already illustrious career, James continue to prove why they’ve remained one of Britain’s most enduring and inventive bands. Rather than simply relying on a celebrated back catalogue, they continue to produce fresh, ambitious music that stands proudly alongside – and at times even surpasses – some of their finest work. With both the Better Than That EP and Living in Extraordinary Times arriving in the same year, the band have once again demonstrated that creativity shows no signs of slowing down. If ever there was a time to be a James fan, it’s now – we really are living in extraordinary times.