Wendy James‘s new album ‘The Shape of History‘ is out now, and available digitally, on deluxe vinyl and CD.
Wendy has now shared the title track, the latest single from the album. She explains: “Some things never change, I’ll always be the wild girl dancing on tabletops till dawn. I love the movie ‘Smithereens’ (1982) by director Susan Seidelman (before she made ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’). That movie woke me up, a clarion call! Where I belonged! Where I was headed! Downtown NYC. I had my first crush from that movie! Richard Hell is so pouty, so mean, but quite nice too?! The opening scene with actress Susan Berman as Wren, going down into the subway and stealing the two-tone sunglasses out of the hands of another passenger, all to the hypnotic sound of The Feelies ‘The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness’ was everything I wanted! Wren goes to the Peppermint Lounge every night to hand out flyers for herself. It’s a rock’n’roll look at broke down NYC, The Bowery and The Lower East Side. For me, this is heaven! My teenage years in Ladbroke Grove had their share of misdeeds, scrapes and hi-capers in the West London underworld, but when I listen to my New York musician friends talk about their time in no-electricity lofts, no elevators, rats, junkies, thieves, my heart goes zing! So that’s what this is! It’s ‘The Shape Of History’, my history. It’s Desperately Seeking Susan, It’s Smithereens, it’s Scorsese’s ‘After Hours’, it’s CBGB, it’s Max’s Kansas City, The Peppermint Lounge, it’s downtown NYC, it’s Cindy Wilson screaming “I’ll give you fish, I’ll give you candy” It’s me, forever, dancing on tables tops til dawn.”
The video, edited by David Leigh Dodd, she adds, “is an incredible collection of my history and makes such overwhelming accompaniment to the song”.
LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ HERE
WATCH ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ VIDEO HERE
“My songwriting has always been a wide mix of sounds, which naturally reflect the different music and references I have and love. ‘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 love it and am so happy for you to make it your own now”.
“‘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.”
Having played a number of instore stripped down across the UK last year, Wendy will be announcing new live dates very soon.
WATCH ‘DO YOU DIG IT? DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT GROOVY?’ VIDEO HERE
BUY ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ HERE
www.instagram.com/thewendyjames
