A pandemic, a university master’s degree and a move delayed the closing of a fantastic trilogy started by Jamie 4 President with “The Heartbreak Campaign.” But we won’t do a drama either, the wait was well worth it.
We spoke to perennial candidate Jamie R. Green about an excellent exercise in emotional power pop titled “It Bites” (B-Core/Saltamarges, 23).
The compositional process of “It Bites” started shortly after releasing his previous album, “Consolation Prize” (B-Core, 19). During confinement Jamie R. Green, his singer and guitarist, made good use of the time; so when they decided to lock themselves in the premises they had material to give and give away. “You could say that the composition process lasted two years, we compiled the songs that seemed most suitable to me and we started recording in September 2022.”
“It Bites” It is a very varied album, with pieces of pure fuzz indie rock and others dressed with eighties synthesizers, but at all times you can perfectly recognize the Jamie 4 President always. “On this album there are more classic songs, not to use the term ‘pure’. Songs like ‘Dreams Of Arcata’ that would not have been on previous albums and is now one of my favorites. At the same time there is still energy, but channeled in another way. ‘True Crime’ is a good example.”
“The album is about celebrating the moments experienced previously and the people with whom those moments were lived”
Since its formation more than a decade ago, the band made up of Pablo González (drums) and Borja Pérez (bass) has always evolved its proposal within certain coordinates. “In the beginning we did a thing between indie rock and singer-songwriter pop, then ‘The Heartbreak Campaign’ is our most emo album and ‘Consolation Prize’ would be the most power pop, speaking in very general terms. This ‘It Bites’ is more of a studio album, with a range of more eclectic songs and sounds, while incorporating everything learned in the previous two.” In other words, “It Bites” It’s the album they always wanted to make. “I think you are quite right with what you say. In our beginnings there were good ideas, songs that I am quite fond of, but perhaps they had a more naive air and we didn’t always get the approach right.”
Their new album is the third they have recorded at Santi García’s Ultramarinos Costa Brava, whom Jamie already knew from his time with the much-missed Wild Animals. “The three albums that J4P have recorded with him have arrived at the studio much less defined than with my previous band, which has allowed him to add more ‘inputs’ as a producer and even add basses, guitars and synthesizers as if he were one of the others. the band”. The producer had access to the demos from the first moment and everyone agreed on the need to take them a little further and not fall into the formula. “We had already talked about the use of acoustics for quite some time before. We wanted them to take more prominence because of the brightness and the percussive vibe that they can bring. And adding synths came out in the studio at the same time that we were looking at song by song. We saw it quite clearly and I have also always been a fan of groups from the eighties that used synths like The Cure, New Order and tacky things.”
In the lyrical section, “It Bites” stands out for some reflections typical of a band that overcomes the barrier of forty. Will they also see it from inside? “The most mature without a doubt, because I have always been perhaps a little nostalgic with the lyrics, but this time there is more perspective and more lived experiences, since many things have happened since the last album”. A pandemic and returning to Torremolinos after many years in Madrid, among other things. The common thread of these letters, although it is not obvious, is related to the title. “The album is about celebrating the moments experienced previously and the people with whom those moments were lived; to learn from the mistakes of the past for a better future and to be careful with what you do and what you decide that later bites you.”
The band’s future plans go through “Touch everything you can”, although the logistics with the three members dotted around the peninsula become complicated. The idea of becoming a quartet again, for the moment, is ruled out for the same reason. “We are presenting it as a ‘power trio’ with some sequenced stuff and it is sounding pretty cool, and it also allows collaborations from a fourth member if the occasion arises”. We can see it in Madrid (January 13), A Coruña (April 5), Ferrol (April 6), Castellón (April 19) and Murcia (April 20).