Wendy James – new single + video out now / New album ‘The Shape of History’ out at the end of November

Wendy James has now shared new single ‘Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy?‘, taken from her forthcoming album ‘The Shape of History’. Written, produced and mixed by James and recorded in West London and New York City, ‘The Shape Of History’ is her tenth solo album and will be available digitally, on deluxe vinyl and via deluxe CD. To coincide with the album release, James will embark on a two-week long instore tour, taking in appearances at London’s Rough Trade East and Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Assai stores.

‘Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy?‘, which will get its first spin on BBC6 Music on the Chris Hawkins’ show today, follows previous singles ‘Freedomsville‘ and ‘Everything is Magic‘ and is accompanied by a video featuring never-before-seen footage from her time in Transvision Vamp.

Wendy explains: “This one’s a rocker! Pulling on my taste for CBGB / Max’s Kansas City downtown New Wave Punk! Jagged guitars and fuzzed-up piano underneath! A scorcher!  And the video! I have hours and hours of unseen footage that we, Transvision Vamp, filmed during our time on the road from 1986 to 1991 and here is some of it! A direct buzz of all the behind-the-scenes and epic gigs we played! Pretty amazing huh!”  

She adds: “For survival, one has to know how to close down peripheral noise. How to block out distractions, the buzz-buzz-buzzing of irrelevant irritations, from the myriad interference aimed at you. Know what matters and what does not. In all walks of life, this surely is true, but I’m certain, for me, in the music business and throughout fame ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ has been essential. Meet it head-on, eye-to-eye, toe to toe. It’s not the music friendship, it’s the music business. This song is, as you would expect to be, up in your grill! Fully engaged, locked and loaded with highly explosive alt psyche punk and a little Monkees thrown in for good measure!”

“My songwriting has always been a wide mix of sounds, which naturally reflect the different music and references I have and love. My sweet spot is mid-late 70’s downtown NYC New Wave Punk: CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. It is from this sound that my taste for sequenced and dark NY and Euro electro and no-wave evolves. ‘The Shape Of History’ was recorded on Scrubs Lane, West London with Alex Ward, Harry Bohay and James Sclavunos. I then went off to NYC and Brooklyn to record the pianos and organs with Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman. Overdubbing continued with Al Lawson at the engineering helm in his Shepherd’s Bush studio and then I went back to Berkeley, CA to mix with Jesse Nichols before mastering with Fred Kevorkian in Brooklyn NY. I have spent so much time with this music, I know it note-for-note and I love it and I am so happy for you to now make it your own”.  

“‘The Shape Of History’ has a lot about love in it, a lot about appreciation of oneself, one’s life and importantly, of others. It is life’s arc of starting out, blooming into something and in some ways maturing. I don’t think my music has got older, I know I’ve not gone mellow! My attitude can be more ferocious and fearless than ever, but there is an acquired wisdom, which naturally comes after having been alive for a few decades! ‘The Shape Of History’ is a love letter and a Thank you note to life so far. The culmination of my tenth album is the result of co-musicians and engineers who I’ve worked with previously and with whom I share a language. We know each other, we choose to work together. We enjoy each other’s talents and personalities. There is a happiness, a belonging, when we meet up, and an open and determined desire to achieve what we know we have to”.

“From meeting Nick Christian Sayer and forming Transvision Vamp, the two of us walking into EMI Records and demanding to see the head of Artists and Repertoire, Dave Ambrose. Getting signed and making our hits of the late 80’s and 90’s. From collaborating with Elvis Costello and mixing that album at Sunset Sound in Hollywood where The Stones mixed ‘Exile On Main St’, then moving to NYC to start writing and recording as a solo artist, all the gigs I’ve played and the friends I’ve made around the world, the astounding, incredible, wonderful people whose lives I’ve crossed paths with… I am so grateful for it all.”

Live Dates:
October
Fri 25th – Newcastle, Beyond Vinyl (Evening)
Sat 26th  – Edinburgh, Assai (Daytime)
Sat 26th – Glasgow, Assai (Evening)
Sun 27th – Nottingham, Rough Trade (Evening)
Mon 28th – Liverpool, Rough Trade (Evening)
Tues 29th – Bristol, Rough Trade (Evening)
Weds 30th – London, Rough Trade East (Evening)
Thurs 31st – Portsmouth, Pie & Vinyl (Daytime)
Thurs 31st – Gosport, A Slice of Vinyl (Evening)  
November
Fri 1st – Southampton, Vinilo (Evening)
Sat 2nd – Kingston Upon Thames, Banquet (Late Afternoon)
Sun 3rd – Oxford, Truck (Late Afternoon)
Mon 4th – Marlborough, Sound Knowledge (Evening)
Tues 5th – Leeds, Crash (Evening)
Weds 6th – Preston, Action Records (Evening)
Thurs 7th – Cardiff, Spiller (Evening)

BUY TICKETS HERE
VIP PASSES HERE

PRE-ORDER ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ HERE