已经可以算是乐坛神主牌的 James 选在六月推出蕴酿了六年的大碟 La petite mort。当初还曾担当过 Smiths 的暖场团，James 如今已经是出道超过30年的顶尖乐队。在全世界卖出超过 1200 万张唱片，出过的经典专辑不胜枚举，包含 Gold Mother、Laid、和 Pleased to meet you 等。其中 “Sit Down”、 “She’s A Star”、“Laid” and “Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)”闯进英国单曲排行榜前二十名。 Tim Booth 一直是我认为在乐坛上相当具有才华的唱作人之一，乐团大小曲目几乎都经过他手，辨识度极高的磁性嗓音可柔可亢，有过 Factory 与 Fontana Records 的加持，与 Brian Eno 合作也只是家常便饭，乐团解散又重组，丝毫不影响他的野心，这次新专辑找来了 Killers、Muse 的大咖制作人 Max Dingel Tim Booth，似乎已经从失去母亲与好友接二连三的伤痛中走出，对于录制专辑驾轻就熟的 James 来说，这次的过程他们称之为“令人难以置信地雀跃”。 文/Bernie Manchester’s finest make a welcome return with ‘La Petite Mort’, the first full length studio album in 6 years. Produced by Max Dingel (Killers. Muse, White Lies) and written as ever, by the band, with Tim Booth lyrics, this new disc ranks among their finest in their 30 year career. Highlights include the mighty first single ‘Moving On’, the anthemic ‘Curse Curse’ and ‘Frozen Britain’, which will be previewed from today online and on air. Max DIngel is the latest in a long line of first class producers the band have worked with including Brian Eno, Gil Norton and Youth. The band have just been announced as headliners for ‘Summer in the City’, Castlefield Bowl, Manchester July 11th and Camp Bestival, Dorset August 1st with more major festivals and a UK Arena tour to be announced shortly. ‘La Petite Mort’ was recorded in the wake of Tim Booth losing his mother and best friend in quick succession and understandably many of the songs deal with mortality, hence the album title. However, ‘La Petite Mort’, is an incredibly uplifting record. Their reformation in 2007 was widely considered as a ‘second coming’ with the band creatively recharged. While they have since regularly toured together.