James and his female public

soFem: You're Beautiful is obviously your best known song, and it does seem to have landed you with a bit of a reputation as a sensitive guy who isn't afraid to bare his soul, and as the kind of artist who writes ballads. You write songs that women especially seem to really connect with. What do you think about the 'special relationship' you have with your female public?

James: It's not too bad, is it?!

soFem: Of course not!

James: There were two songs on my last album which dealt with anything romantic and there were eight songs that didn't, so we're talking about...I'm a 20% romantic and 80% not.

soFem: Is that how you feel about yourself? 
James: That's what I know about myself, yes. This album is a whole new ball game in that I had ten songs before, now I have twenty so it shows real diversity in that way. I think it's really interesting that as musicians we work through the medium of radio; radio is the way we get our songs heard, and so whichever songs work might best on radio are the songs that get played. And it's sad as well that now with the digital world, with ITunes, you hear a song on the radio and that's the one that you go and buy. But as a musician I don't write individual songs, I write albums. Back To Bedlam was the first and it's ten songs that tell a story. This one is called All The Lost Souls and its ten songs recorded in the Seventies style of an album: all the songs are as important to each other and they're relevant to each other. They tell a story.

soFem: But some are still romantic songs...?
James: But it's still a Seventies album of a concentrated journey from A to B and in that sense it's a body of work and needs to be recognised as such. I think there's one song that might refer to relationships, so that's 10%. So on this album I'm now 10% romantic and 90% not!

soFem: On that note, let's move on to...women! What makes you fall for a woman the very first time you meet her? Say you were meeting someone, what would attract you to her? Would it be purely looks, voice, personality...What's that X factor that you look for?!
James: I would find anyone who has any kind of mental connection, anything in their mind, of an interest, that's why you carry on a conversation with them, be they male or female, of any race or religion or colour or creed. You carry on a converation with someone and become friends with them presumably because you have a mental connection with them.