He said on Twitter it's not like Busted or Future Boy but if he had to pick a song it was closest to it would be It Happens which is a good sign imo.
It's also produced by John Fields, who produced Night Driver. Looking at the clips from the Sundance ASCAP showcase, he's going in more acoustic direction. I know it's ages ago, but I honestly think Can't Break Thru could be a touchstone for the sound - that genuinely sounded like an early stab at adult-contemporary. James has done other stuff since, but Welcome To Loserville and Futureboy aimed for a specific sound (pop-punk and electronica respectively).
Can't Break Thru has always been one of my favourite Busted songs, I hope his new stuff is more in that vein. Where did you see the clips?
They were on ASCAP's instagram story a few weeks back, hopefully it's still up as a saved story (amongst a bunch of other artists) Edit: it doesn't look like it is anymore (they were very short clips)
James just put the tracklist up on Twitter, if it's of any interest (no confirmed single release date, but some time in June apparently): 1. Everyone Is My Friend 2. Drive 3. Unknown 4. These Streets Know Me Well 5. Language 6. Tokyo Nights 7. The Beatles 8. Batman's House 9. Time Kills Us All 10. Somebody Else's Problem 11. Safe Journey Home
I don’t care what he or anybody else says, no one can convince me Charlie went back to Busted for any reason other than the money. He’s the most talented member by so much you can’t even quantify it really I miss Fightstar
Got a Charlie solo album coming first! I wish we could clone the guy and have him work on all his projects at once.
I knew as soon as I heard the train wreck that is “Everyone Is My Friend” that the James solo record was going to be woeful. I still wasn’t prepared for how bad that album is.
There’s a couple of charming songs on there for me, like Drive and Language (which sounds a bit Futureboy-era but with organic instrumentation). But I can’t ignore the clunkers, especially some terrible lyrics. Looking at The Beatles, Unknown, Batman’s House....I doubt I’ll ever listen to this as a full album again.
Haven’t listened to the James album yet but I was actually listening to Half Way There earlier today and that album really holds up for me so far
Never understood Busted and McFly, and this is coming from a Brit which is their perfect demographic, always felt like rubbish Blink rip-offs. Charlie needs to head back to Fightstar, he must have made the money, now let's do the true love!
I'll take Busted and McFly over blink any day. They were the perfect pop bands for my teen years and really got me into music more seriously.
I get that, they were the same for a lot of my friends, so didn't mean to come off badly! I'll always defend the bands that got me further into a genre, so fair play. I just want more Fightstar haha...
It'll happen at some point when the time is right but yeah I feel you. Should hopefully have new solo Charlie and Gunship next year though so maybe after that if we're lucky?
I see You is beautiful, as is all of his solo records, so if it is just that for the time being, all good! Love a few Gunship songs, I need to delve into their catalogue more throughly though. Fingers crossed for Fightstar at some point though!
Busted is kind of a guilty pleasure band for me, I enjoy a good amount of their old songs and even Night Driver is an album I come back to sometimes and enjoy. All of that said, I still agree with this. I understand it from a financial perspective... it’s still crazy to me as an American just HOW big Busted was in the UK when most people don’t know them over here. But damn, I very much hope Fightstar ends up coming back. Charlie’s so good at making post-hardcore music.
Just re-listening to Night Driver and oh my god there are some really well written songs here. No idea why it didn't get more attention at the time. Kids With Computers and Without It are absolute bangers
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that album is actually underrated haha! Same, I'm surprised with it being their comeback album that it didn't get bigger.