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Cinematic, exciting, unconventional; a more experimental DIVINE COMEDY


Rolling Stone Magazine

BIO

Singer/songwriter/producer JAMES COOK releases his 5th solo album ‘inside out’ in December 2024, preceded by the first single ‘Atlas Cloud’ in November. Two of the songs from this album feature on the current compilation ‘JAMES COOK (vol one)’ on his DeepSeeMusic label which is a chronological ‘best of’ spanning more than 12 years of album releases.. Over the last 20 years, Cook has performed his music in UK, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, RUSSIA, SWITZERLAND, CZECHIA, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, FRANCE, ITALY, USA, ARGENTINA and URUGUAY both with his original band NEMO, as a solo artist, and as guitarist with seminal electro rock act IAMX.

Previous solo albums include baroque/indie/electro masterpiece ‘ARTS & SCIENCES’ (described by Rolling Stone as ‘Cinematic, exciting and unconventional’), his epic second album ‘ADVENTURES IN AUSLAND’ (Ausland is German for ‘abroad’ or ‘outside’) and ‘ANTI LOVE SONGS’, a more aggressive, guitar/synth heavy album. His fourth album released in early 2020, was prophetically titled ‘THE NEW NORMAL’ after his 2019 Berlin club night.

Cook’s previous incarnation was as frontman and principal writer for NEMO, one of 21st century London’s first, and finest, underground electro rock acts. Between 2004 and 2008, through three successive international album releases, especially breakthrough second album 2006’s ‘POST HUMAN LOVE’, the cult synth rock group helped anticipate and inform the British indie/electronic scene, initially via their seminal early 00s electro-centric club ‘The System’. Described by Grammy award winning artist IMOGEN HEAP as ‘London’s best kept secret’, they collaborated together in 2006/7 as both her support act and backing band.

During this time, James also toured as guitarist for legendary underground synth mavens IAMX, appeared in and wrote songs for numerous Mighty Boosh episodes, as producer won a best album Czech Grammy and with NEMO, won the Montreaux Jazz Festival award for best new band in 2007.

After moving to Berlin in 2008, Cook enjoyed a creative rebirth, disbanding NEMO and completing 2010’s Baroque Curio ‘The Dollhouse’ with violinist/string arranger Anne-Marie Kirby (a darker sequel album is currently being recorded). When Cook decided to go solo in 2010, Kirby then contributed arrangements across three solo albums. Cook has worked in collaboration with countless directors on all his music videos in the last 15 years, dating from 2006’s NEMO classic ‘LIFESPAN’ to his 2024 masterpiece ‘ATLAS CLOUD’ conceived and directed by Monica Pokorná.

2023 saw a 20th anniversary retrospective JAMES NEMO (vol one) featuring remixes, remasters and re-recordings. 2024 sees vinyl releases of this album, JAMES COOK (vol one) and brand new album ‘INSIDE OUT’. JAMES will release his entire back catalogue on vinyl over the next few years culminating in an anniversary box set.

DISCOGRAPHY

2004: FIVE MINUTE HEROES (NEMO)
2006: POST HUMAN LOVE (NEMO)
2008: THE THIRD WAVE (NEMO)
2010: THE DOLLHOUSE
2012: ARTS & SCIENCES
2013: REVERSE ENGINEERING (VOL I)
2014: ADVENTURES IN AUSLAND
2016: ANTI LOVE SONGS
2020: THE NEW NORMAL
2021: REVERSE ENGINEERING (VOL II)

2022: JAMES NEMO (VOL ONE)

2023: JAMES COOK (VOL ONE)

2024: INSIDE OUT