Girl at the End of the World

James released their 13th album La Petite Mort in June 2014, produced by Max Dingel.[1] The album was a shift for the group, spurred on by Dingel,[2] which saw them use less organic-sounding drums.[3] Though some members were hesitant about it, the success of the record gave it some validation.[2] As touring to promote the album concluded at the end of 2014, vocalist Tim Booth asked Dingal if he could produce their next album, with recording planned for mid-2015.[4] In January 2015,[2] the band travelled to the Scottish Highlands and spent three weeks working on material, which they previously did for La Petite Mort.[5] However, unlike for that album, the writing sessions included keyboardist Mark Hunter and guitarist/violinist Saul Davies[6] Despite the area they were located in offering zero distractions, the band took breaks to explore the beaches nearby.[5] Writing was split between the Tolbooth in Stirling and a house in Gairloch.[7]

They set up a space on the top floor of the Tolbooth,[8] where they built a rehearsal room, using mattresses taped to the windows to act as soundproofing.[6] They then moved to Gairloch, where they wrote further material.[8] They jammed on material through improvisation, playing against a drum machine,[9] which were purposely set to high tempos to give themselves songs that they felt would be good in a live setting. Booth generated beats and altered the rhythm via the use of the FunkBox app on his iPhone.[4] The jams would last anywhere between 10 minutes to over an hour in length.[6] All of the jams were recorded by Hunter; if one of the members liked one of the jams, it would be edited down to three-to-eight minute segments.[4] The band would later work on these segments, evolving them into songs.[6] Booth would often sing phonetics, with the occasional line or word spoken, in attempt to come up with melodies.[9] The group eventually sent Dingal over 20 potential song ideas, most of which he liked.[4]

In between a series of festival performances,[9] Girl at the End of the World was recorded at RAK Studios and Offtape Studios in London with Dingel producing again.[10] Sessions were split into three recording blocks: the first in late May and early June, the second in July, and the third in late August and early September. The May/June block saw the band work on most of the ideas they had sent Dignal and as a result, less songs were finished than they had hoped. Dingal anticipated to pick up from where they had left off when recording La Petite Mort, however, the group took a while to get into the groove of recording again. For the July sessions, the band recorded more tracks live-in-the-studio, with some ending up on the final recordings, though some sons were built around programmed and electronic sections. The group had tried recording "Nothing But Love" for the first block, but ended up scrapping it and re-recording it for the second block.[4]

The final block in August/September saw the group work on little aspects of the recordings, and complete some of the lead vocal tracks.[4] Hannes Plattmeier and Manon Grandjean acted as the main engineers, accompanied by additional engineers Izzy Grundy, Joel Davies and Ran Steiner.[10] Booth contacted Brian Eno, who had produced five of the group's albums previously, about helping in regards to two tracks they were working on, one of which was "Nothing But Love".[6] It marked their first collaboration since Pleased to Meet You (2001).[11] Dingel mixed all of the recordings across a three-to-four week period in late September and early October[4] at Mothership, aside from "Waking" which was done by Plattmeier, before they were mastered by Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering.[10]

All of the songs that feature 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.[10] It continues the sound of La Petite Mort with its electronic-focused tracks and dance rhythm sections.[12] Davies said working at Tolbooth gave the album "a weird Scottish flavour ... a Celtic kind of theme."[7] Unlike La Petite Mort which was centred around one theme, the songs on Girl at the End of the World tackled a variety of subjects: love, passion, imagery of fire and traveling, and living in California.[13] Dingel added synth bass to "Bitch", and electronic drums throughout the album. Eno played the synthesizer on "Nothing But Love", while group's former guitarist Adrian Oxaal did cello and mandolin on that and the title-track. Larion Stolk arranger the backing vocals, which were done by touring member Ron Yeadon. In addition to his regular role on the band as the keyboardist, Hunter played guitar on "Waking".[10]

"Bitch" opens with a bass riff[14] that starts a two-minute long electropop intro,[12] before shifting into krautrock[15] and space rock in the vein of Hawkwind.[16] The wonky pop[14] and synth-pop song "To My Surprise"[15] continues the up-beat sound of the previous track, though with a more dance-like nature.[17] It was compared to the Killers, an act that Dingel had previously produced.[18] "Nothing But Love" is anthemic track with a chorus that repeats the title phrase.[19] Booth said it talked about "love’s euphoria and ecstasy – that love-bomb that goes off and changes everything."[20] "Attention" begins as a piano ballad, before turning into a dance track with a techno feeling to it.[15] Booth said the change was done by some of the members speeding "it up to a mega-fast, comedy Pinky & Perky speed."[11] Booth wrote the lyrics after him and his family moved further north to the Berkeley suburb of California, before moving back to Topanga eight months afterwards due to his son being unable to settle down in Berkeley.[11] "Dear John" is a synth-pop track[16] that talks about the end of a relationship.[15] The synthesizer line was reminiscent of the one heard in "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue.[21]

"Feet of Clay" sees Both recount mortality and art[22] in an acoustic setting,[23] recalling the title-track from the group's album Seven (1992).[24] The electro track "Surfer's Song"[12] is followed by "Catapult", which is backed by a drum and bass beat,[14] and features a guitar riff that recalled Ned's Atomic Dustbin.[23] "Move Down South" features an alternative country-sounding slide guitar playing distorted riffs in the vein of The Joshua Tree (1987)-era U2.[21] The opening was reminiscent of the group's earliest songs, such as "Hymn from a Village".[17] It dealt with droughts in California, the state which Booth lives in.[25] The Goldfrapp-esque track "Alvin"[21] was named as such as the group felt it sounded akin to Alvin Stardust.[5] It sees Booth singing the lyrics in French,[17] much to the confusion of his bandmates.[5] "Waking" showcases Diagram's trumpet-playing ability[15] against Casio-synthesized beats.[17] Discussing "Girl at the End of the World", Booth said near his home in Topanga Canyon, California there was several hairpin turns, where drivers would often go over the edge. He said the lyrics talked about "what would I feel if I came round the corner and that was it... I got this split second to just appreciate my life."[26]

In August 2015, the group did a variety 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.[27] Following a premiere on BBC Radio 6,[20] "To My Surprise" was made available for streaming, and the album's track listing was revealed.[28] The music video for the song, which was made by Kris Merc,[20] premiered through The Quietus' website on 16 December.[29] On 22 January 2016, "Move Down South" premiered on BBC Radio 6,[20] which was followed by the premiere of "Nothing But Love" on BBC Radio 2 on 5 February.[20] Two release shows for the album were held later in the month,[30] followed by a performance at the Dubai Jazz Festival.[13] "Nothing But Love" was released as a single on 1 March.[31] Its music video premiered through Clash's website that same day, directed by James FitzGerald.[32] "Attention" was released as a single on 11 March.[33] Girl at the End of the World premiered through The Telegraph's website,[6] before being released on 18 March[34] through BMG; the first of a three-album contract with BMG.[35]

To promote its release, the band held a series of in-store performances and signings.[36] The band embarked on a UK tour in May 2016,[34] with support from the Slow Readers Club and Jack Savoretti.[36] On 23 May, the music video for "Girl at the End of the World", also made by Merc, premiered through Culture Collide's website, and features the Killers frontman Brandon Flowers and Alexandra Chelaru.[37] Between June and September, the group played various festivals across France, the UK, Spain, Greece and Portugal,[38] including an opening slot at Glastonbury Festival.[39] The music video for "Dear John" premiered through Under the Radar's website on 6 July, and was directed by Péter Vácz.[40] In November, the band toured Australia for the first time,[41] alongside shows in New Zealand.[38] The following month, the group played a one-off show at the Echo Arena in Liverpool with the Charlatans.[42] In March and April 2017, the band played shows in Mexico,[43] which was followed by the single release of "To My Surprise" on 1 April.[44] In July and August, the band played festivals across the UK, including Sounds of the City in Manchester.[43]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[45]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Clash	6/10[14]
Drowned in Sound	6/10[21]
Louder Than War	9/10[17]
The Music	[46]
musicOMH	[15]
Record Collector	[22]
The Skinny	[16]
Uncut	7/10[47]
Under the Radar	[23]

Girl at the End of the World came close to knocking Adele's album 25 (2015) off the top of the UK Albums Chart, reaching number one in the midweek charts in its first week of release, 2,000 sales ahead of Adele's album.[48] At the end of its first full week of release the album debuted at number 2, therefore just narrowly missing out on becoming the band's first studio album to reach number one.[49] However, in Scotland it reached the top spot.[50] Outside of the UK, it reached number 35 in Portugal,[51] number 149 in the Wallonia region of Belgium,[52] and number 194 in the Flanders region of Belgium.[53]

Girl at the End of the World received generally positive reviews from music critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[45] The Music writer Mac McNaughton said the album was "densely produced", which "almost suffocat[ed] the guitars in places."[46] He added that it was group's most emotional record since Please to Meet You.[46] Under the Radar's Aug Stone appreciated the tracks in the middle of the record that pushed the group's sound, but felt let down by the title-track as it "reverts to the more safe James sound."[23] Clash writer Sam Walker-Smart mentioned that although the album had "some bad ideas", he complimented the band's decision to experiment, and "sounding like they’re enjoying it while they do."[14] Dan Lucas of Drowned in Sound noted that while the record's attempted to shy away from the rock sound of the group's previous records, it was "an uncertain" move.[21]

AllMusic reviewer Timothy Monger wrote that the album came across as "a little stylistically scattershot and lacking in cohesion."[12] In a review for musicOMH, Neil Dowden found it a "much more positive" and upbeat affair, despite it lacking in emotional depth.[15] Record Collector's Max Bell said it was "never short on dizzying rhythmic crescendos."[22] Gary Kaill of The Skinny viewed it as "more of the same" with "bulging " song arrangements and "hefty half-hooks", though also fining it "intelligent, accomplished and likeable."[16] Louder Than War writer Martin Unsworth said that while the record was "certainly a strong one", it wasn't "re-inventing the wheel, but it certainly isn’t repackaging it either."[17]

All songs written by Tim Booth, Larry Gott, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies and Mark Hunter. All lyrics by Booth.[10]

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 per booklet.[10]

Citations

Sources

• Girl at the End of the World at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)