James Colton, the moniker of Boorloo/ Perth-based musician, audio engineer, producer, award-winning composer, and self-proclaimed “music nerd” Andrew Bartlett continues to tease his forthcoming album Emotional Vampire, following on from July’s Catfisher with his latest alt-rock shredder, that takes a “cheeky jab at political liars” – titled Business as Usual.
Debuting James Colton in 2022 with the “engrossing and brilliant” (Pilerats) electro-psychedelic track Elevator Ride to Floor 808, Bartlett has been prevalent in Boorloo’s music community for many years, with West Australian Music (WAM) ‘Song of The Year’ awards with Michael Strong and The Ghost Away, The Autumn Isles, The Disappointed, recently having a film score nominated for the 2023 WA Screen Culture Awards, and currently performing in the band Deep Beep.
He explains that “Business as Usual is a cheeky jab at political liars using doublespeak throughout history, having a little fun using their own words against them. It’s funny how the further back you go in time the more ridiculous a lie sounds. 1980s Big Tobacco claiming smoking isn’t addictive, 1950s adverts claiming “More doctors smoke Camel than any other cigarette” may sound hilarious today, but not so long ago that was the rhetoric and a lot of people believed it. In my lifetime it’s been oil & gas lobbyists denying climate change. I have no doubt the future will smirk at the lies being debated today, and I also wonder what big lies those future generations will be debating.”
Set to a big alt-rock groove inspired by bands like Rage Against the Machine, Bartlett shares that he “wrote the main riff during a slow work shift years ago and instantly knew I was on to something, I remember leaving work on a real high. But after that, every time I tried to add a vocal melody I felt a bit ‘meh’ about the results. So I let it sit for a while. One evening years later, I had this idea of collecting a bunch of samples of past U.S. presidents and political figures caught telling lies or misleading the public, saving them for another project. I started to notice there was often a musical quality to the rhythm of their speeches, and I was instantly reminded of Wax Audio’s “WMD – American Justice” where a lot of clever editing turned some rather terrifying speeches by political leaders into the main vocal track. And bingo, I immediately thought of that old guitar riff and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.”
Inspired by a range of genres from 70’s soft rock, 90’s grunge rock, fusion and soft, moody jazz, Bartlett describes the forthcoming James Colton album Emotional Vampire as “an exploration of evolving recording and music production technology” – set for release in the earlier half of 2025. In the meantime, soak in Business as Usual in all its glory, and “may this track ignite your inner fire for truth and transparency.” (James Colton)
James Colton’s new single, Business as Usual is out on 18 October via Blue Grey Pink.
