Be Opened By The Wonderful

Product Information

BE OPENED BY THE WONDERFUL was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester, orchestrated and conducted by Joe Duddell with the ORCA22 Orchestra, led by Andra Vornicu, featuring the Manchester Inspirational Voices choir directed by Wayne Ellington.

Although this album does contain some of their more familiar singles, for me the stars of this show are the lesser known tracks, which are now being given their time to shine. Joe Duddell commented “Having attended the first 6 years of Latitude Festival, I’m excited to be involved in James’ special Main Stage Show this year in a UK Festival exclusive. As cheesy as it might be to say, the song gave me goosebumps and made me cry the first time I heard it and continues to have the same effect no matter how many times I play it. Tackling the 1980s Cold War tensions, ‘Why So Close’ highlights the ‘Us vs Them’ mentality that dominated the lives of many.

Be Opened by the Wonderful is the 17th studio album by English rock band James, released through Nothing but Love Music on 9 June 2023. It comes from a place of not understanding what’s gone wrong, struggling to comprehend why this huge void has appeared in your life, and not knowing how to fix it. The emotional and poignant song, “ Moving On,” is a tribute to Tim’s mother and close friend, evoking a sense of raw and authentic emotion that will leave you moved and inspired.

New single Love Make A Fool is a euphoric song which has a tribal, almost mantra-like feel to the lyrics which echoes Tim’s description of it being “a simple prayer to be possessed by the ecstatic universal aspect of love”.

I read thatthe new song on the album, `Love Make A Fool` is a simple prayer to be possessed by the ecstatic universal aspect of love, which is what it is, a dreamy but fairly captivating listen. This first disc closes with `Alaskan Pipeline` which could refer to trust issues in a relationship and is an intense listen. James have really excelled themselves, orchestrating a true time capsule of thought-provoking and memory-laden songs.

Rob Johnson of Total Ntertainment felt that the album "defies definition" and "acts as a sonic compendium of the band's entire career", also commenting that "for a band celebrating their 40th anniversary, it is striking how relevant they still sound". Joe Duddell says “Having attended the first 6 years of Latitude Festival, I’m excited to be involved in James’ special Main Stage Show this year in a UK Festival exclusive. I won’t compare them to the original recordings; I will treat them as an album of brand-new songs – as they are. Take “ Hey Ma,” for example, a hard-hitting anti-war song that encapsulated the frustration and anger felt by many in the aftermath of the World Trade Centre attacks. Set them marching, stop them thinking/Psyche them up with your will/Stir them up with frantic rhythm/Send them out to kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill”, Booth bellows with an evil snarl.

We’re Gonna Miss You’ sees Booth cast a protective spell on himself, shielding him from harm as he does his best Leonard Cohen impression. The addition of a new song on this album which sits perfectly alongside tracks from over 3 decades ago shows how James are constantly evolving and moving forward as a band whilst having the utmost respect for who they are as a band. There are 20 songs in total on the digital and CD releases, but one song —“Hymn from a Village”— is omitted from the 19-track double-vinyl release.

The album also features the ORCA 22 Orchestra led by Andra Vornici and the Manchester Inspirational Voices Choir, directed by Wayne Ellington. The strings, along with the backing vocals from the choir give this song a whole new feeling of intensity and a real gospel feel – its almost as if the guitars were never there.Joe Duddell says “ Having attended the first 6 years of Latitude Festival, I’m excited to be involved in James’ special Main Stage Show this year in a UK Festival exclusive. The sound is fantastic and will raise the hairs on the back of your neck at certain times throughout the album. Released on 9th June via Virgin Music and available on DSPs, CD and Vinyl the double-album also includes one brand new track, Love Make A Fool, to be released in April. In further celebration of their 40 th Anniversary, the band will play a headline slot at Latitude Festival, performing as Special Guests on the Sunday afternoon at midday, a slot especially created for JAMES to honour their Anniversary. James has taken an experimental approach and enlisted fellow Mancunian Joe Duddell to choose and arrange their songs, resulting in a unique and stunning collection of tracks that showcase James’ career in a fresh and exciting way.