James Alexander Bright Vinyl, CD & Tape 5 Items

Timeless soul, 'Cool Cool' is the standout title track from James Alexander Bright's recent album. It's an immediately enchanting gem, with tendermusicianship and a stripped back production highlighting James' voice, pitchedsomewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald. Athens of theNorth's in-house band East Coast Love Affair add a delightfully psychedelic Balearicpiquancy with an beautiful dub version on the flip.
'Cool Cool' has been enjoying a plethora of worldwide support; seeing James insession for Gilles Peterson, suppling a Block Party mix for Huey Morgan, interviewedby Bandcamp Weekly, and played across tastemaker shows on stations includingBBC 6 Music, FIP, Jazz FM, Kcrw, Kexp, Les Inrocks, NTS, Soho Radio, Triple R,WDET, Wnxp.
The past six years has seen James release a veritable treasure trove of music:'Mallorca' and 'Strange Folk' EPs, debut album 'Headroom', joyous second 'Float', analbum of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duoFlying Mojito Bros, and a new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright &Findlay. 'Cool Cool', his third solo album since 2020, was released on 26th July 2024.

A vibrant kaleidoscope of sound, colour and emotion, British multi-hyphenate James Alexander Bright's new album 'Cool Cool' is set for release on 26th July via Athens Of The North. A dynamic set of urgent funkers, gentle soul ballads, head-nodders, fuzzy folkers and straight-up disco bangers span 10 songs that soundtrack fertile daydreams, esoteric dancefloors, languorous reflection, and wild excursions in nature and beyond.

James' voice, pitched somewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald, takes a confident lead on this new record. Whether tenderly caressing on the title track's beautiful soul minimalism or deployed passionately on boogie machine 'Straight Line'; it's an immediately recognisable signature. Impressive multi-instrumentalism sees him perform on guitar, bass, keys, programming, percussion, production and myriad quirky effects; across song subjects that cover searching for truth, imagining the distant future, teen nostalgia, relaxation exploration, aspirations of freedom, and classic tales of love and romance.

"'Straight Line' started out as a wonky homage to 80s & 90s radio", says James. "It's based on the memory of meeting someone you want to stay up all night listening to music with". Disco highlight 'Your Love' is"based on the feeling of love and chasing it. It has a certain kinetic charm but holds a melancholic note also". Similarly, on soulful paean to romance 'Fall For You' James explains"You know when you've loved. To love is a magical thing whether it's an experience, an object, or a person; we've all loved and lost".

"'Cool Cool' is the most stripped back song I've ever written,"he confesses."Recorded in one afternoon with no special effects or production tricks, it feels quite timeless". In contrast the uninhibited 'Aguas Blancas' flexes with exuberance. James explains"It's a homage to one of my favourite beaches on the island of Ibiza. I was imagining being there as I made this. What's not to like about big waves, a buzzing beach shack bar, and nudity?".

As always with James' music, what started as a solo endeavour organically morphed into more of a family affair. Initially written and recorded at his home studio in the rolling hills of the Hampshire countryside, the tracks on 'Cool Cool' were completed in sessions with regular collaborator Peter Lyons in East London and Linkwood at Athens Of The North in Edinburgh. Old friends and new contribute vocals (Kerry Leatham and Katharine Alice), drums (Gillan McLaughlin and Joris Feiertag), and synths (Reuben Vaun Smith on 'Aguas Blancas'), plus collaborations with Wolverhampton electronic duo Letherette on 'I Feel Alive' and Ugandan/Nottingham singer-songwriter and guitarist Daudi Matsiko on 'Hear'.

James says"Some of these people I was in bands with as a kid, which is a pretty magical thing. I've been a fan of Letherette for years so it was a buzz when I asked Andrew to work on some tracks together and he was really into it. When Daudi shared a guitar part he wasn't sure what to do with on his Instagram stories, I messaged him to say "I'll make a track out of this!" and that then became 'Hear'".

The past six years has seen James release a veritable treasure trove of music: 'Mallorca' and 'Strange Folk' EPs, debut album 'Headroom', joyous second 'Float', an album of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duo Flying Mojito Bros, and a new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright & Findlay.

James balances music alongside the creative duality of a job in illustration and the responsibilities and constraints that come with raising a young family. Utilising any spare moment to write and record new ideas, his creative output under various projects had been relentless. Turning his back on apathetic major label offers in his early 20s, he's released through cult DIY label Tape Club Records, German stalwart !K7 Music and now with Scottish tastemaker Athens Of The North, presenting an evolving vision of a sound that has touched on everything from outsider art-rock to machine funk, mystic folk to experimental jazz.

Electro-boogie-machine 'Straight Line' is taken from 'Cool Cool', the upcoming third album by British multi-hyphenate James Alexander Bright. "'Straight Line' started out as a wonky homage to 80s & 90s radio", says James. "It's based on the memory of meeting someone you want to stay up all night listening to music with".

James' passionate voice, pitched somewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald, takes a confident lead over a melange of body-popping LinnDrum beats, a host of swooping, fuzzy synths, and backseat-rocking bass. Initially written and recorded at his home studio in the rolling hills of the Hampshire countryside, 'Straight Line' was completed with regular collaborator Peter Lyons in East London.

It's backed on 7" vinyl with the wonky dancefloor wobbler 'Oh My', sounding something like Theo Parrish producing Arthur Russell after a sleepless night.

The past six years has seen James release a veritable treasure trove of music, including 'Mallorca' and 'Strange Folk' EPs, debut album 'Headroom', joyous second 'Float', an album of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duo Flying Mojito Bros, and a new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright & Findlay.

James balances music alongside the creative duality of a job in illustration and the responsibilities and constraints that come with raising a young family. Utilising any spare moment to write and record new ideas, his creative output under various projects had been relentless. Turning his back on apathetic major label offers in his early 20s, he's released through cult DIY label Tape Club Records, German stalwart !K7 Music and now with Scottish tastemaker Athens Of The North, presenting an evolving vision of a sound that has touched on everything from outsider art-rock to machine funk, mystic folk to experimental jazz.

A dynamic set of urgent funkers, gentle soul ballads, head-nodders, fuzzy folkers and straight-up disco bangers; album 'Cool Cool' is set for release on 26th July via Athens Of The North.

Multi-hyphenate artist James Alexander Bright releases soulfully tender paean to romance 'Fall For You', backed with urgent funker 'Viper Flames'. This new music heralds James' third solo album, currently being recorded and mixed, which is planned for release via Athens of the North mid 2024.

On 'Fall For You' James says "You know when you've loved, to love is a magical thing. Whether it's an experience, an object, or a person; we've all loved and lost. The senses, vibration and elements have a wondrous strength and power. Love is the most powerful of all."

Following the release of !K7 debut album 'Headroom' ("Blissful choruses, sweetly nagging refrains and a lo-fi sensibility. Hard not to love" Mojo), James featured on Groove Armada's album 'Edge Of The Horizon', contributed 'Under The Sun' to the Too Slow To Disco: The Sunset Manifesto compilation and released single 'It's Alright' with Feiertag. His second album, the joyous 'Float' ("Vivid intermingling of buoyant breakbeat drum loops, sunkissed psychedelic folk song, retrofuturist synthesisers and hot buttered British soul" Test Pressing), was released in July 2022 with singles 'Drink This Water', 'Wheels Keep Turning' and 'Sundown' feat Fink paving the way. This was followed in early 2023 by 'Mirage In The Mojave' ("One hundred percent proof dancefloor ready" Louder Than War), an album of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duo Flying Mojito Bros. On radio his tracks have been played across BBC 6 Music (where he's recorded guest mixes for Tom Ravenscroft and Huey Morgan), Amazing Radio, Bandcamp Weekly, Worldwide FM, Soho Radio, Kcrw, Triple J and BBC Solent (who chose his track 'Tigers Roar' to soundtrack Portsmouth FC's 2019 journey to Wembley – awkwardly James is a Saints fan).

A new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright & Findlay - married around their shared love of machine-led funk, outsider soul, 70s-80s nautica and 21st century basement disco - was released via Athens of the North in summer 2023. Solid tastemaker support included BBC 6 Music's Gilles Peterson, who included 'Slow Dance' amongst his tracks of the year, and Huey Morgan, for whom the duo recorded a Block Party mix.