 | | James - Fresh As A Daisy |
Still, theirs is the sort of break that warrants some sort of full stop from which to move forward. Inevitably, that full stop is a singles collection, complete with a shiny DVD of all their promos. "So what is a single?" asks Tim Booth in his sleeve notes. You can see why he’s so confused. Have a quick whiz through the sights and sounds of Fresh As A Daisy and you soon realise just how brilliantly warped the band’s vision of single release was. After all, much as you’d expect variety in a career that’s spanned a quarter of a century, the difference between the stadium rock of Destiny Calling and the taut indie of Johnny Yen is of Bowie-esque proportions. And that’s just aurally. The disparity between the literal video for Lose Control – it mentions love, people kiss; it mentions bed, there’s Tim rolling in the sheets – and the pop pastiche for I Know What I’m Here For is staggeringly wide. But then James have documented odd times. On occasion riddled with pomposity, at other times as achingly emotional and humble as the mass market gets, they have dipped in and out of success, poked a finger in their own eye and stuck a tongue firmly in their collective cheeks. They’ve been medical guinea pigs to earn cash, soundtracked Madchester, worked with Factory and Eno, been through six record companies, toured America, lived as superstars and disintegrated as a result. Are any of the offerings here singles in the truest sense? Even Sit Down, that bastion of the student disco, doesn’t actually sound that much like a single when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it. In truth, though, what does it matter? As funny as some of the promos are and as non-commercial as some of the songs are, Fresh As A Daisy is simply a collection of great tunes from one of Manchester’s most interesting bands. But possibly the best thing about is that Who Are You and Chameleon, the obligatory two new songs included on the album, are worthy of inclusion and that points to an equally interesting future. | 
