La Petite Mort (James album)

La Petite Mort
Studio album by James
Released 2 June 2014
Genre Alternative rock
Label BMG Chrysalis/Cooking Vinyl[1]
Producer Max Dingel[2]
James chronology
The Morning After
(2010)		 La Petite Mort
(2014)		 Girl at the End of the World
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100 [3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The Independent[5]
musicOMH[6]
Q Magazine[7]
The Times[8]

La Petite Mort is the name of an album released by British alternative rock band James in June 2014.[9][10] The album's title comes from its overall themes of death and release,[6] having been written following the death of lead singer Tim Booth's mother in 2012[11] as well as the death of his best friend.[2] It features ten tracks and is available on CD, vinyl and as an MP3 download.

All pre-orders of the album included a download of “Frozen Britain” as well as a copy of the album's first single, entitled “Moving On”, which was released on 28 April.[12] and accompanied by a stop-motion-animated video from BAFTA-winning[13] director Ainslie Henderson.[14]

Critical reception

Reviews of the album have been generally good, mentioning that there were a few tracks that could already be considered as classic James, e.g. 'Moving On', 'Frozen Britain'. The Daily Express called the album: "a beautiful set of moving and inspiring songs" and the reviewer goes as far as to affirm: "It's one of my favourite albums of the year" and that "This record could be described as life affirming or as a great comeback album but I am happy to see James out playing recording and connecting with that ever faithful audience."[15] Renowned for Sound gave the album 3.5 out of 5 [16] and summarised the album as follows: "La Petite Mort is a solid effort from [the] band... For the most part, the writing is focused, the production is polished and Booth’s vocals standout in a manner we are used to hearing. Sure there are a few misfires, but here’s nothing wrong with experimenting your sound. However saying that, only James do James best and after all these years, that classic James sound is what we want to hear." The review by Gigslutz says: "The album itself has a very theatrical swing to it" and "‘La Petite Mort’ may mean ‘The Little Death’, but this record has all the makings of a rebirth, signalling a refreshed sound from Booth and co.".[17]

Virgin Media's review states: "after nearly 30 years, the idiosyncratic, quixotic James are always worth persevering with", but only gives it 3 stars out of 5 as they do not particularly like the 2nd half of the album.[18] MusicOMH give the album 3.5/5 stars and comes to the conclusion "Bookended with two (almost) James classics, the album’s probably better than expected" but thinks that "too often, the production strips away the potential majesty".[19]

Track listing

  1. "Walk Like You"
  2. "Curse Curse"
  3. "Moving On"
  4. "Gone Baby Gone"
  5. "Frozen Britain"
  6. "Interrogation"
  7. "Bitter Virtue"
  8. "All In My Mind"
  9. "Quicken the Dead"
  10. "All I'm Saying"
  11. "Whistleblowers" (iTunes only bonus track)

References

  1. ↑ "James Return with first new album in 7 Years 'La Petite Mort". cookingvinyl.com. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 "James perform Moving On: music session". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "La Petite Mort - James". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "La Petite Mort - James". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Gill, Andy. "Album reviews: Kasabian, Parquet Courts, Martin & Eliza Carthy, Holland Dozier Holland, Ethan Johns, James". The Independent. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  6. 1 2 Marsh, Graeme. "James – La Petite Mort". Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Price, Simon (July 2014). "James: La Petite Mort". Q Magazine (336): 109.
  8. ↑ Conrad, Anna. "James: La Petite Mort". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "James to release first album in six years next month". NME.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "James announces new album 'La Petite Mort,' streams new song 'Frozen Britain'". Slicing Up Eyeballs. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Wetherall, Greg. "Album Review: James - La Petite Mort". Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "WORLD PREMIERE OF JAMES' NEW SINGLE 'MOVING ON'". Latitude Festival. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  13. ↑ English, Paul. "Fame Academy Scot Ainslie Henderson tells how he won BAFTA after quitting music business to make animated films". Daily Record. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  14. ↑ Bedford, Sian. "James unveil new video for 'Moving On' by BAFTA winner Ainslie Henderson". Never Enough Notes. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  15. ↑ "James La Petite Mort review". www.express.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "Renowned for Sound Album Review James La Petite Mort". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Gigslutz ALBUM REVIEW James La Petite Mort". Gigslutz. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  18. ↑ "James La Petite Mort Album Review Reviews Music Virgin Media". VirginMedia. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "James La Petite Mort Album Reviews musicOMH". MusicOMH. Retrieved 4 June 2014.

External links

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