Girl at the End of the World


Girl at the End of the World is the 14th studio album by the British rock band James. The group spent three weeks in the Scottish Highlands working on new material for the album. Re-enlisting producer Max Dingel, who produced the group's previous album La Petite Mort, James spent five months recording in separate blocks. Long-time collaborator Brian Eno and former member Adrian Oxaal contributed instrumentation to the sessions. Before the album's release, music videos were released for "To My Surprise" and "Nothing But Love".
Preceded by the second single, "Attention", Girl at the End of the World was released on 11 March by BMG. James promoted the album with a UK tour in May, and appeared at a number of festivals between June and September. "To My Surprise" was released on 1 April 2017, followed by UK festival appearances in July and August.
Girl at the End of the World reprised La Petite Mort electronic-centred songs and dance rhythm sections. Individual tracks were compared to Hawkwind, Goldfrapp and the Killers, the latter of whom Dingel had produced. Girl at the End of the World reached number two on the UK album chart and received favourable reviews from music critics, with some complimenting James' change in style.

Background

James released their 13th album, La Petite Mort, in June 2014. The album was a shift for the group, encouraged by Dingel, using less organic-sounding drums. Although some band members were hesitant, the album was a success. When touring to promote the album concluded at the end of 2014, vocalist Tim Booth asked Dingal if he would produce their next album; recording was planned for mid-2015. The band travelled to the Scottish Highlands in January 2015 and spent three weeks working on material, as they had done for La Petite Mort; writing sessions this time included keyboardist Mark Hunter and guitarist-violinist Saul Davies. Despite an attempt to avoid distractions, the band took breaks to explore nearby beaches. Writing was divided between the Tolbooth in Stirling and a house in Gairloch.
The band set up a space on the top floor of the Tolbooth, building a rehearsal room with mattresses taped to the windows for soundproofing. They then moved to Gairloch, where they wrote additional material. James jammed on improvised material, playing against a drum machine set to high tempos to help create songs they felt would be good in a live setting. Booth generated beats and altered the rhythm with the FunkBox app on his iPhone. The jams lasted from 10 minutes to over an hour. All were recorded by Hunter; if a band member liked one, it would be edited down to a three- to eight-minute segment. The band later worked on the segments, developing them into songs. Booth often sang phonetics, with an occasional line or word spoken, in attempt to come up with melodies. James sent Dingal over 20 potential song ideas, most of which he liked.

Production

During a series of festival performances, Girl at the End of the World was recorded at RAK Studios and Offtape Studios in London with Dingel producing. The recording sessions were split into three blocks: the first in late May and early June, the second in July, and the third in late August and early September. James worked on most of the songs they had sent Dignal during the May–June block, and fewer songs were finished than they had hoped. Although Dingal anticipated picking up where they had left off when recording La Petite Mort, the group took a while to get back into the groove of recording. For the July sessions, the band recorded more tracks live in the studio; some ended up on the final recordings, although some songs were built around programmed and electronic sections. The group had tried recording "Nothing But Love" during the first block, but scrapped it and re-recorded the song in the second block.
The final August-September block saw the group work on details of the recordings and complete some lead-vocal tracks. Hannes Plattmeier and Manon Grandjean were the main engineers, accompanied by additional engineers Izzy Grundy, Joel Davies and Ran Steiner. Booth contacted Brian Eno about helping with two tracks on which they were working, one of which was "Nothing But Love". It was their first collaboration since Pleased to Meet You. Dingel mixed the recordings over a three-to-four week period in late September and early October at Mothership before they were mastered by Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering.

Composition

All the songs on Girl at the End of the World were written by Booth, guitarist Larry Gott, bassist Jim Glennie, Davies and Hunter, with lyrics by Booth. The album continues the sound of La Petite Mort, with electronic-focused tracks and dance rhythm sections. Davies said that working at Tolbooth gave the album "a weird Scottish flavour... a Celtic kind of theme." Unlike La Petite Mort, which was centred around one theme, the songs on Girl at the End of the World addressed a variety of motifs: love, passion, imagery of fire and traveling, and living in California. Dingel added synthesised bass to "Bitch", and electronic drums throughout the album. Eno played the synthesizer on "Nothing But Love", and former James guitarist Adrian Oxaal played cello and mandolin on that song and the title track. Larion Stolk arranged the backing vocals, which were sung by touring member Ron Yeadon. In addition to his regular role as the band's keyboardist, Hunter played guitar on "Waking".
"Bitch" opens with a bass riff which begins a two-minute electropop intro, before shifting into krautrock and space rock similar to Hawkwind. The wonky pop and synth-pop song "To My Surprise" continues the previous track's upbeat sound, with a more dance-like nature. It was compared to the Killers, a band whom Dingel had previously produced. "Nothing But Love" is an anthemic track with a chorus which repeats the title phrase. According to Booth, the song was about "love’s euphoria and ecstasy – that love-bomb that goes off and changes everything." "Attention" begins as a piano ballad, turning into a dance track with a techno feeling. Booth said that the change was made when some band members sped "it up to a mega-fast, comedy Pinky & Perky speed". Booth wrote the lyrics after he and his family moved further north to Berkeley, California, moving back to Topanga eight months later when his son could not settle down in Berkeley. "Dear John" is a synth-pop track about the end of a relationship; the synthesizer line is reminiscent of the one in Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head".
Booth examines mortality and art in the acoustic "Feet of Clay", recalling the title track from Seven. The electro track "Surfer's Song" is followed by "Catapult", with a drum and bass beat and a guitar riff reminiscent of Ned's Atomic Dustbin. "Move Down South" features an alternative country-sounding slide guitar, playing distorted riffs in the vein of The Joshua Tree-era U2. The opening evokes the group's earliest songs, such as "Hymn from a Village", and deals with droughts in California. The Goldfrappesque track "Alvin" was named for Alvin Stardust. Booth sings in French, confusing his bandmates. "Waking" showcases Diagram's trumpet playing with a Casio-synthesized beat. Discussing "Girl at the End of the World", Booth said that there were several hairpin turns near his home in Topanga where drivers would go over the edge. The song's lyrics addressed "what would I feel if I came round the corner and that was it ... I got this split second to just appreciate my life."

Release

In August 2015, James made a number of festival appearances; Gott was unable to play these shows, and was replaced by Oxaal. On 16 November, Girl at the End of the World was announced for release in March 2016. After a premiere on BBC Radio 6, "To My Surprise" was made available for streaming and the album's track listing was revealed. The song's music video, made by Kris Merc, premiered on The Quietus website on 16 December. On 22 January 2016, "Move Down South" premiered on BBC Radio 6; this was followed by the premiere of "Nothing But Love" on BBC Radio 2 on 5 February. Two release shows for the album were played later that month, followed by a performance at the Dubai Jazz Festival. "Nothing But Love" was released as a single on 1 March. Its music video, directed by James FitzGerald, premiered on Clash website that day. "Attention" was released as a single on 11 March. Girl at the End of the World premiered on The Telegraph website before its 18 March release on BMG, the first of a three-album BMG contract.
To promote the album, James gave a series of in-store performances and signings. The band began a UK tour in May 2016, with support from the Slow Readers Club and Jack Savoretti. On 23 May, the music video for "Girl at the End of the World" premiered on Culture Collide website; it features Killers frontman Brandon Flowers and Alexandra Chelaru. James played at a number of festivals across France, the UK, Spain, Greece and Portugal between June and September, including an opening slot at Glastonbury. The music video for "Dear John", directed by Péter Vácz, premiered on Under the Radar website on 6 July. In November, the band toured Australia for the first time and played shows in New Zealand. The following month, James played a one-off show at the Echo Arena in Liverpool with the Charlatans. The band played in Mexico in March and April 2017, and "To My Surprise" was released on 1 April. James played at festivals across the UK in July and August, including Sounds of the City in Manchester.

Reception

Girl at the End of the World nearly knocked Adele's album, 25, off the top of the UK Albums Chart; it reached number one in the midweek charts in its first week of release, 2,000 units ahead of Adele's album. At the end of its first full week of release, the album debuted at number two. In Scotland, however, it reached the top spot. The album reached number 35 in Portugal, number 149 in Wallonia, and number 194 in Flanders.
The album received generally-positive reviews from music critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The Music writer Mac McNaughton called the album "densely produced", which "almost suffocat the guitars in places." McNaughton wrote that it was group's most emotional record since Pleased to Meet You. Under the Radar Aug Stone appreciated the tracks in the middle of the album which pushed the group's sound, but felt let down by the title track because it "reverts to the more safe James sound." Clash writer Sam Walker-Smart wrote that although the album had "some bad ideas", he liked the band's decision to experiment and "sounding like they’re enjoying it while they do." Dan Lucas of Drowned in Sound wrote that although the album attempted to shy away from the rock sound of James' previous records, it was "an uncertain" move.
AllMusic reviewer Timothy Monger wrote that the album was "a little stylistically scattershot and lacking in cohesion." In a review for musicOMH, Neil Dowden found it "much more positive" despite lacking emotional depth. According to Record Collector Max Bell, the album was "never short on dizzying rhythmic crescendos." Gary Kaill of The Skinny saw it as "more of the same", with "bulging" arrangements and "hefty half-hooks" but "intelligent, accomplished and likeable." Louder Than War writer Martin Unsworth said that the album was "certainly a strong one", it wasn't "re-inventing the wheel, but it certainly isn’t repackaging it either."

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Booth, Larry Gott, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies and Mark Hunter. All lyrics by Booth.
  1. "Bitch" – 4:52
  2. "To My Surprise" – 4:21
  3. "Nothing But Love" – 3:29
  4. "Attention" – 4:08
  5. "Dear John" – 4:04
  6. "Feet of Clay" – 2:37
  7. "Surfer's Song" – 3:51
  8. "Catapult" – 4:02
  9. "Move Down South" – 5:19
  10. "Alvin" – 2:13
  11. "Waking" – 2:44
  12. "Girl at the End of the World" – 3:00

    Personnel

According to the album booklet:
James
Additional musicians
Production