We have a real treat for you, which comes by way of London and Liverpool when you zoom back on the way-back machine. What could this mean exactly? Like a seasoned wine, indie rock artist James Clarke Five brings on some hot music with the new single ‘Gadfly Groove’, which automatically conjures mental associations with Ian Brown’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ album and with great Northern Soul swagger to boot. Plus here you’ll also inhale a welcome breath of elements reminiscent of T-Rex and XTC. This song celebrates the personal transformation of a quiet, tentative introvert to an outgoing, gadfly-like persona via the prism of uplifting crunchy guitars and a blistering sax solo.
This rad track previews the album‘Zoom and The Gadflies’ (set for release on March 15 via Favourite Recordings). What to expect, you ask? Well, other tasters of the album fall more into powerpop territory, along with some Madness-like kickbacks, and rock-outs that are more akin to Adam and The Ants and The Kinks. With fantastic diversity, wrapped in a tight layer of suave musical mastery, James Clarke Five’s brand of music melds the best of rock and Brit pop, imbued with spirits past and present.
Much like Cocteau Twins was not actually a duo, James Clarke Five is the solo project of James Hughes. He is perhaps best known as keyboardist and vocalist for Liverpool 80’s new wave band The Cherry Boys, contemporaries of Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes, whose members also played with The LA’s, Cast, The Icicle Works and Lightning Seeds. With a slight resemblance to The Fall’s Mark E. Smith, Hughes now lives in London.
“I was almost ‘channelling’ the sound of T Rex / glam-era Bowie with this song, and I gave it a carefree, slightly camp lyric to compliment the sound. I think the raunchy sax solo tops it off nicely!” says James Hughes.
With sometimes story-driven or politically-edged lyrics, James Clarke Five mixes classic baroque pop with strong melodies and distinctive chord changes, but with a more raw, guitar driven sound with overtones of Glam Rock and psychedelia. The new album also includes some clear nods to Glam Rock, Adam and the Ants and Joe Meek.
‘Gadfly Groove’ comes hot on the heels of‘(Who’s Been On The) Big Rock Candy‘, which tells the story of a couple who pursue increasingly daring deeds from roller coaster rides and cliff edges to runaway trains, all to a pounding, feedback-driven backdrop.
At the age of 12, James Hughes picked up a guitar, which he has scarcely put down since. Following The Cherry Boys, Hughes was a founder member of Exhibit B, releasing the cult classic album ‘Playing Dead’ and several singles.
Upon moving to London in the early 2000s, Hughes launched James Clarke Five with the barnstorming single ‘Get Out Of Bed’ and later found success with his song ‘Sexbombe Uber Alles’, the main theme of the film ‘Last Shop Standing’. Their most recent albums ‘Underneath The Lemon Tree’ (2021) and ‘ParlourSounds’ (2018), released by iconic Canadian label The Beautiful Music, garnered rave reviews. His music has also appeared in the film‘Soundtrack to Sixteen’ and has amassed over 1.25 million Spotify streams to date.
Recorded in James’s home studio in London, James produced and mastered this album. He performed all instruments and vocals with the exception of Mack The Sax, who plays saxophone on ‘Gadfly Groove’ and Karen Bates, who provides backing vocals on ‘It’s Been So Long’.
As of February 2, ‘Gadfly Groove’ will be available from fine digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple and Bandcamp. The full ‘Zoom and The Gadflies’ album will be released on March 15 via Favourite Recordings.
TRACK LIST
1. (Who’s Been On The) Big Rock Candy
2. D’You Not Think?
3. Gadfly Groove
4. Ghost
5. Pineapple Rock
6. Manhattan Pigeon
7. Hot Chicory Bop
8. It’s Been So Long
9. Zoomdust
10. Buddy and Joe
11. Goodbye Patience
CREDITS
All songs written by James Clarke (AKA James Hughes), except ‘It’s Been So Long’ by Donaldson / Adamson
Karen Bates – backing vocals on track 8
Mac The Sax – saxophone on track 3
All other instruments and vocals by James Clarke
Produced by James Clarke
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Cover artwork by James Clarke
Get into the Groove with James Clarke Five
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