New James album out now and tour, including Glasgow and Newcastle dates, to follow

That tour, with Razorlight as support, includes two Scottish dates, in Aberdeen and Glasgow, and two within travelling distance of the Borders, at Newcastle and Leeds.

They’re at Aberdeen’s P&J Live on Monday, June 3; Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on Wednesday, June 5; Glasgow’s Ovo Hydro on Friday, June 7; and Leeds’ First Direct Arena on Saturday, June 8.

Tickets cost from £46.55 for Glasgow and from £47.50 for Newcastle, those being the handiest destinations. For details, go to https://wearejames.com/live/

Entitled Yummy, their new album, their 18th, is produced by Leo Abrahams and mixed by Cenzo Townsend.

There are 11 tracks on the standard edition, including lead single Is This Love, and the deluxe edition adds another dozen.

Its arrival follows a run of four top-ten albums on the bounce – Girl at the End of the World, a No 2 in 2016; Living in Extraordinary Times, a No 6 in 2018; All the Colours of You, a No 3 in 2021; and 2023’s Be Opened by the Wonderful, a collection of reworkings of old songs plus one new track, also a No 3.

The Tim Booth-fronted band, formed in Manchester in 1982 and together ever since but for a six-year break from 2001, have notched up a further seven top-ten LPs besides those, including one chart-topper, the 1998 compilation The Best of James.

Their biggest single to date is Sit Down, a hit three times over in different incarnations – a No 77 in 1989, a No 2 in 1991 and a No 7 in 1998.