Equal parts hazy sunshine psychedelia, lo-fi electronic soul, melodic pop nous, a husky croon and forwards-looking-backwards studio techniques; singer/multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter James Alexander Bright has focused his broad influences and adventurous productions on this new five track EP.

Having traded as “Hairy Hands” on his debut album ‘Magic’ (released Tape Club/New Los, Sept 2016), James has now taken off his metaphorical mask to create under his own name. His new songs draw back the curtain of escapism and begin to encompass the real world into his distinctive vocals. Sometimes oblique, sometimes explicit; the songs’ lyrics permit the listener licence to draw their own interpretations as to their meaning. With a sentiment of universality to the record, it’s grounded in primal emotion, a simpler way of life and living it. “Humans don`t seem to be doing a great job of running the world at the moment so I looked at the natural world for inspiration, particularly through David Attenborough’s documentaries. Maybe the next record will deal more directly with human relations.”

Created almost entirely by himself, James took the tracks, editing and removing parts and rearranging them in the MPC or SP404, adding textural effects via cassette deck, effects pedals or Kaoss pad. He gets by with a little help from friends: Leo Wyatt (KINDER) and Ben Rowley sent bass lines over the Internet and Charlie Carroll recorded saxophone in a large kitchen to get a moody, shimmering brass sound.

“I really wanted to pull back and try to make a record on my own, which meant I could work on tracks whenever I wanted and didn't need to schedule recording with other musicians. I was able to make music when the inspiration came. I would sit down in the early evening with just my laptop, MPC, headphones, tape deck and a notepad. It was really interesting to just be in my own space with a minimal set up and to really get into building the tracks. I tried my best to keep the songs minimal in the number of individual sounds in each, really playing with the elements I had. The less is more approach.”

After periods in Devon and London, James now resides in the Hampshire countryside. Aside from his own releases, he’s featured on records by Slugabed (Anticon) and Morgan Hislop (Activia Benz) and played guitar on Tropics’ album ‘Rapture’ on Innovative Leisure.