Here it is! My third single from my imminent 10th Album THE SHAPE OF HISTORY!
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 1986-1991 and here is some of it! A direct buzz of all the behind the scenes and epic gigs we played! Pretty amazing huh!
I say of this song “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!”
You can buy the Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? VIP Bundle here: https://thewendyjames.com/product/do-you-dig-it-do-you-love-it-is-it-groovy-vip-bundle/
I’m so excited for this single to release and it also means that in just 7 days time, on the 25th October, my 10th album THE SHAPE OF HISTORY will be out!
Get your last week of preorder in! (Including, the artwork proofs, the test pressings, t-shirts and of course the VIP single packages!) Every sale helps! Every sale counts toward a chart position! The album will deliver to you on release day 25th October!
THE DELUXE VINYL
Preorder here:
https://thewendyjames.com/product/the-wendy-james-album-10-deluxe-12-vinyl-download-signed/
A wide spine cover, double vinyl LP. One 12” vinyl and one 10” vinyl, to allow for top quality audio for all 13 brand new songs. The 12” plays at 33 1/3 rpm and the 10” plays at 45 rpm. They are packaged together with fully printed sleeves, inner sleeves and a 12 page full size booklet, containing multiple new photographs, all the lyrics, the credits and hand written liner notes by Wendy (you also get an automatic digital download)
ALBUM LENGTH – 56:30
12” SIDE A 33 1/3 RPM
1. Sweet Like Love (3:41)
2. A Happy Life (3:09)
3. Everything Is Magic (5:23)
4. May I Kiss You? (Just Enough To Get Us Into Trouble) (4:13)
5. The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons (3.35)
12” SIDE B 33 1/3 RPM
6. A Big Vicious Rumble (5:53)
7. Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? (3.53)
8. Don’t Let Daylight Into Magic (4:35)
9. This Declaration Of Love (4:21)
10” SIDE A 45 RPM
10. Freedomsville (5:47)
11. Step Aside Roadkill (4:36)
10” SIDE B 45 RPM
12. Thank You For The Time We Shared (2:23)
13. The Shape Of History (4:31)
THE DELUXE CD
THE CD
Preorder here:
https://thewendyjames.com/product/the-wendy-james-album-10-deluxe-cd-signed/
The CD is packaged like a mini vinyl! There is the outer front cover, a fully printed inner sleeve and a 24 page booklet containing multiple new photographs, all the lyrics, the credits and hand written liner notes by Wendy
ALBUM LENGTH – 56:30
1. Sweet Like Love (3:41)
2. A Happy Life (3:09)
3. Everything Is Magic (5:23)
4. May I Kiss You? (Just Enough To Get Us Into Trouble) (4:13)
5.The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons (3.35)
6. A Big Vicious Rumble (5:53)
7. Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? (3.53)
8. Don’t Let Daylight Into Magic (4:35)
9. This Declaration Of Love (4:21)
10. Freedomsville (5:47)
11. Step Aside Roadkill (4:36)
12. Thank You For The Time We Shared (2:23)
13. The Shape Of History (4:31)
THE SHAPE OF HISTORY – ALBUM REVIEW BY CLASSIC POP
“You don’t come here to be comfortable, you come here to be excited” sings Wendy James at the top of her 10th album.
But if that sounds like a warning to brace yourself for more of the pouty provocation that defined James’ Transvision Vamp days, then what follows may surprise you. The WENDY JAMES of 2024 is an older, wiser and far more intriguing prospect – one who long ago stopped relying on other (male) songwriters to put words in her mouth.
Take the opening track, Sweet Like Love. Having promised excitement it wrong foots the listener by delivering what sounds like an overture to a West End musical, one that showcases James’ impressive vocals against a shifting time signature which defies all logic, and is none the worse for that.
A Happy Life continues in a similarly eccentric vein, with James offering useful self-care advice about keeping promises to yourself and reflecting how “Time humbles all of us” while album highlight Everything Is Magic is a gorgeous rolling and rumbling saloon bar piano ballad that sounds like a sweeter Nick Cave – perhaps because Bad Seeds drummer Jim Sclavunos is behind the kit.
Much of The Shape Of History conjures a summery 1960’s yé-yé pop vibe, while the jazzy drums and fluting vocals of This Declaration Of Love are pure Burt Bacharach. Which isn’t to say James has lost all of her former swagger: The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons, with it’s talk of “Some tits here, a little ass there”, and the discordant Step Aside Roadkill are big, dirty rockers, while Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? Is a propulsive slice of Krautrock with shades of Stereolab’s French Disko.
Does it all hang together? Not entirely: bonkers EDM blowout Freedomsville remains a baffling choice of a lead single.
But it is never dull, and certainly never predictable.
Paul Kirkley
AND! MY IN-STORE UK TOUR 2024!
16 DATES ALL OVER THE UK!! I WILL SING, PLAY, Q&A, SIGN AND PERSONALIZE! KICKING OFF ON RELEASE DAY 25TH OCTOBER!
Get your admission to the instore tour here: https://WendyJames.lnk.to/tickets
Get your instore tour VIP UPGRADE here:
https://thewendyjames.com/product/v-i-p-the-wendy-james-gig-pass/
It’s going to be a brilliant evening! I’ll play some new tunes from ‘The Shape Of History’ and I’ll also play a selection from each of my albums! I’ll intersperse the music with conversation and questions from the audience, all unprompted!! So, it should be a fun and lively night, rounding up at the merch desk where I will sign and personalize for everyone who’s bought something of mine, and take photos too!
I cannot wait to see you all!!”
***** ADMITTANCE: To attend the in-store performance, including VIP, you will need to have purchased your entry with your location of choice.
Come and meet me before the show, hang out for a little while and I’ll personalize your items. (Exact logistics will differ, location to location so you’ll receive an email with instructions of where/how/when!)
Much love, as always
Thank you!
Wendy xoxo
