She’ll carry on through it all, she’s a waterfall

September 15th 2008 by E..

James - Hey Ma (Mercury)

Along with the recently-disbanded Beautiful South, Manchester’s James was one of many bands who went undeservedly underappreciated outside their native England. Sure, everyone knows “Laid” and maybe even “Sit Down,” but vocalist Tim Booth and company had been making music for a good 12 years before the Eno-produced Laid provided them with their most well-known track. After a six-year hiatus, James is back with a new album that features some of their biggest and best songs in their catalogue. Produced by Lee “Muddy” Baker, who worked with Tim Booth on a successful project during the James break, Hey Ma tackles deep social and emotional issues against a backdrop of bright horn arrangements and classic ‘Madchester’ psychedelic-dance. The title track is a lament to 9/11 and the war in Iraq, bringing a modern resonance to a band who usually stuck to non-political songs (a trend that continues to “72″ on the album’s second half). The following song, “Waterfall,” stands is stark contrast to “Hey Ma,” with a bright, upbeat melody that features Booth’s trademark vocal acrobatics. It also provides one of my favorite lyrics of the year so far, “Don’t take a phone company to tell you life’s pay-as-you-go.” Coming from a band whose early records were mostly Happy Mondays-style freakouts with risqu

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