ALBUM OF THE WEEK

James Living In Extraordinary Times Infectious/BMG, out Friday ★★★★★

Aged 36, James have been around the block and back. They rose during the heady days of Madchester, when Sit Down became an indie-dance anthem and have flourished into middle age. Aside from some glitchy electronics, their 15th studio album could be a James album from any point in the past 30 years. Hank is quintessential James, uplifting and melancholic. Leviathan is the kind of emotive, mid-paced anthem U2 would flog their private jet for. Domiciled in California, Tim Booth feels compelled to comment on the tumultuous state of the nation. Hank has ‘white fascists in the White House’, while in Heads ‘fake news divides to conceal’.