LAID ON THE LINE - Tim's track by track guide

JAMES singer Tim Booth has been talking exclusively to The Maker about the band's new album, "Laid", set for release by Fontana on September 27 - and about the additional double album the band recorded during the same six weeks at Brian Eno's Real World studios near Bath. Amazingly, the group recorded around 50 songs during the six-week session, during which they had two studios set up simultaneously.

Explained Booth. 'We were working on the 'song' LP in one studio, which is what this is. Then, we'd get bored or restless, so we'd put this one-hour multi-track tape on that Brian had specially made, and we'd go into the other room and improvise for an hour.

"We'd take the tape into the other studio where Brian's assistant Marcus, who's just produced The Levellers' LP, was working, and choose four minutes from it.

"The original idea was 'music for films', because that way I wouldn't be pressured into having to come up with lyrics, and we wouldn't be pressured into making them into songs -they could just be atmosphere tracks. But some songs just turned up anyway. At one point we had four studios going at once, recording and mixing." Booth added that the resulting double album would be released some time next year.

Meanwhile, his track-by-track account of "Laid" goes as follows:

"Out To Get You"

"It was originally the B-side of 'Control'. It was a bit of a mess, and we forgot about it."

"Then, on the Neil Young acoustic tour, we were resurrecting stuff. We distilled it into an acoustic song and it worked really well."

"In the studio, everyone tried to do overdubs and get their parts perfect, and that completely messed up the feeling of the song, so eventually we went back to the first take. I see itas being about a paranoia that stops you loving somebody - your fears getting in the way of human contact."

"Sometimes"

"That was the song Brian loved the most. We did it live in the studio, and as we were doing it I could see him being blown away by the song. At the end, he sat down and said that it was one of the highlights of his musical life. Which was one of the biggest compliments we could ever get."

"Dream Thrum"

"I had real trouble coming up with lyrics that I liked for that one. It was a piece of music that Brian picked out; one of maybe four on the album that we wouldn't naturally have chosen. It sounded quile heraldic -sort of [sings in stentorion tone] 'He marched across the mighty sword'! I couldn't stop taking the piss out of it. Butl think it's turned out nicely now."

"One of The Three"

"That was one Brian didn't like -so we did it in one take on one of his days off, and made Larry 'honorary Brian' for the day. He even wore Brian's beret!"

"It was loosely inspired by the hostages- Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Brian Keenan -and also by the scene in 'Waiting For Godot' where you have the three characlers on crosses. It's about the odds against redemption."

"Say Something"

"That's an old song which we had to kind of understate. If we'd tried to put too much emotion into it, it could have ended up sounding really crude - you know, [bellows] 'SAY SOMETHING! SAY SOMETHING! , "You can't over state things. I think we were attuned to that way of thinking when we did this record because we'd just come off the Neil Young tour where we were playing acoustically ."

"Five-O" 

"Another one that Brian found. He came across this 20-second piece of music, and we improvised from that. I love that song. Ithink that and 'PS' are the centrepiece of the LP."

"PS" 

"I really don't know what I can say about that one without getting into trouble. It is very personal, and it obviously contains a lot of very strong, mixed feelings towards someone."

"I think if you listen to it, you can easily work out exactly what it's about."

"Everybody Knows" 

"That's very romantic, I think. It's about having someone lift you out of depression, and out of yourself." 

"Knuckle Too Far"

"A travelling song. We've been touring so much that everyone said to us, 'I bet you'll come back with lots of songs about Being On The Road, airports, hotels and minibars. I think this is the nearest we've come to it. I certainly had loads of lyrics for it."

"Low Low Low"

"We see that as a football song. If England get through, we're going to put it forward as next year's World Cup song. We'd probably change some of the verses, and change the chorus from 'Low, Low, Low' to 'Goal, Goal, Goal'!"

"You' re not sure whether to believe me, are you - but I'm telling you the truth!"

"We got the kitchen crew from Real World in to sing the chorus with us, all crowded round the microphone! I think it probably will be a single. It's one of those classic James anthems which always seem to end up being singles, unfortunately."

"We see those as sturdy, robust babies that can probably stand up on their own, whereas if we put out one of our more gentle songs, it might get bullied!"

"Laid" 

"It came from observing some of the relationships that were going on around me, and what went on in them"

"It has some of the famous James yodelling, which we've taken a lot of criticism far in the past. But I just love doing it!"

"Just Human"

"That's abaut the abuse that a friend of mine suffered, and how it made it difficult far them to trust anyone."

"Child abuse is a huge subject. I think an incredibily high percentage of people have suffered from it, and it's only just starting to come into the open."

"A lot of people are getting very angry about it and questioning why these people are allowed to have this kind of authority just because they're adults."

"Abuse has always gone on . Only about 150 years ago, incest was legal, and you were seen as being the property of your parents for them to do what they liked with. I think it explains an awful lot abaut the kind of society we live in."

"Skindiving"

"It was strange doing a vocal like that, falsetto all the way through, but I think it works. It's really just about someone sinking deeper and deeper into a mood."

"It's quite scary - but pesceful at the same time."