"We need to be wowed by what’s actually real": Jim James reveals plans for new solo album, Wowed Out

Wowed Out first came together when James started going through old recordings created with his longtime friend, composer Brian Reitzell (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides), last autumn. "For years I kept returning to all this music we'd made and couldn't figure out what to do with it," he explains. "But for some reason, last year everything started flowing in a really beautiful way."

The album is described as a "dream project" for James, pushing for "tenderness as resistance, nature as refuge, and awe as a counterforce to dread and despair" against a sense of disillusionment.

"Come Again" arrives as the first taster of the upcoming album. Speaking about the album, he shares, “‘Come Again’ came from feeling discouraged by how much things are changing in directions I don’t agree with, but trying to remember that there’s still so much beauty to be experienced. You’ve got to just keep going and keep trying again and again and again to find joy.”

The album was produced entirely by James, and mixed in collaboration with engineer Emily Lazar (David Bowie, David Byrne, Beck). The ten tracks see the artist turn to his sense of wonder. Discussing the process, he explains, “There’ve been times in my life where I’ve felt lost or depressed, but music has always been the thing that pulls me back,” James says. “When I think about making this album, it almost feels like I was in some kind of dream and now I’m trying to remember what the dream was about. The whole thing brought me a lot of joy and comfort while I was making it, and I hope it brings everyone else a little joy and comfort too.”

“We’re surrounded by all this technology that’s supposed to be so world-changing and amazing," he adds. "But a lot of the time it just leaves people feeling disconnected. I really believe there’s another path through all this insanity, and it starts with putting down our phones, taking care of ourselves, being kind to other people. We need to be wowed by what’s actually real, like nature and love and music – these things that almost everyone has access to, and that still have the power to truly move us.”

Wowed Out artwork

Wowed Out tracklist

"Baby Dear"
"Hands On"
"Come Again"
"Lost Child"
"Home (Green)"
"We Love Our Life"
"Wowed Out"
"Whole Heart (Into It)"
"Rewind It"
"Your Door"