Wendy James – Livestream – 7pm BST 3rd June
WENDY JAMES
WILL BE IN CONVERSATION WITH THE GUARDIAN’S DAVE SIMPSON AND
STREAMING HER ALBUM ‘QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT’
ON WEDNESDAY 3RD JUNE FROM 7PM BST
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THE TITLE TRACK
“packed with 20 songs, remarkably filler-free, brimming with colourful vocabulary, catty character study, melodic excellence and stylistic dexterity… She means it, man, and it’s a joy throughout.” – 4/5 MOJO“A superior collection of cosmopolitan pop music, the 20-song set is both catchy and complex.” – Telegraph“A Motown flecked ode” (Little Melvin) – The Times “A characteristically ambitious album, a double, 20 songs… a varied retro-pop clutch; James knows her way around the chords, and how to keep things moving. But the charm lies in their personality…” – Metro“Written, produced and mixed by (ex-Transivision Vamp) Wendy James fronting a strong band and dabbling in a dizzying variety of styles.” – Classic Rock “stylish, vintage sounds, in thrall to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and 1960s pop.” – 4/5 Mail on Sunday “Wendy gets the last laugh with an up-for-it 20-song double album of punk, rock & roll and general mayhem. Just as energetic as the Vamps, the songs are sharper than ever.” – Daily Star
WENDY JAMES will be live streaming her new album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT and in conversation with the Guardian’s Dave Simpson on Wednesday 3rd June from 7pm BST via Leeds Brudenell Social Club. It will be available via multi-platforms including YouTube and FaceBook.
Wendy says, “I’ll be talking about Queen High Straight and about my life in music, from the beginning! What a treat! What a night! Please all mark this off in your diaries and join me for this unique event!” English singer-songwriter Wendy, who was born in London, exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless front woman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. When the band disbanded Wendy went on to collaborate with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy & the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), who joins her on drums and percussions for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT.
Also joining her on this album are James Sedwards (lead guitar), Harry Bohay (bass), Alex J. Ward & Terry Edwards (horn section) and Louis Vause (accordion). Wendy’s genre-defying album embraces Motown with ‘Here Comes The Beautiful One’ and recently released ‘Little Melvin’.
She returns, once again, to her favourite guitar guttural filth and sex for first AA single ‘Perilous Beauty’ and an unlikely sounding love song in ‘Chicken Street’.
She finds a 90’s pop groove in ‘Ratfucking’, melancholia in ‘Testimonial’, Django Reinhardt whimsy in ‘I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes’. On ‘The Impression Of Normalcy’, Wendy says, “Thanks to James Sclavunos, who told me to “speed the fucking song up”, I have a proper speed punk song.” Finally, track 20 ‘Kill Some Time Blues’ is the ultimate 60’s girl group number. Last year Wendy toured the UK with her permanent band THE WENDY JAMES BAND opening for The Psychedelic Furs, which was a huge success. Due to Covid-19 Wendy has rescheduled her 19-date UK tour. Wendy currently divides her time between New York City, Paris, South France and London.
TRACK LISTING
1. Queen High Straight
2. Perilous Beauty
3. Free Man Walk
4. Stomp Down, Snuck Up
5. Little Melvin
6. Marlene et Fleur
7. A Heart Breaking Liar’s Promise
8. Here Comes The Beautiful One
9. Chicken Street
10. Testimonial
11. Bar Room Brawl & Benzedrine Blues
12. Ratfucking
13. She Likes To Be (Underneath Somebody)
14. Bliss Hotel
15. Freak In
16. The Impression Of Normalcy
17. I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes
18. Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday
19. Sugar Boy
20. Kill Some Time Blues
All songs written, produced and mixed by Wendy James.
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT is available as a 20-track deluxe gatefold double vinyl, gatefold deluxe CD, regular CD and Digital Download / Streaming. Its available to preorder at https://thewendyjames.com/store and this store is the main driver for all of Wendy’s recordings and associated art, t-shirts, all things Wendy.
WEBSITE: https://thewendyjames.comSTORE: https://thewendyjames.com/store
FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/THEWENDYJAMES
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/THEWENDYJAMES
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thewendyjames
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/the-wendy-jamesYOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/THEWENDYJAMESVIDEO
SPOTIFY: https://tinyurl.com/SPOTIFYTHEWENDYJAMES