SCOTTISH electronic producer Rory James drops his debut E.P. ‘Real Time’ today, Friday 21st April, an electro-pop sizzler featuring tracks inspired by writing trips to LA and all recorded and mixed at home in his bedroom.
Featuring epic beats, synths and heartfelt lyrics, ‘Real Time’ is an exciting project for Edinburgh native Rory that feels authentically him. The E.P. release comes ahead of a huge year for the singer and producer including a headline show at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s and sharing a bill with the likes of boygenius and Loyle Carner at Connect Festival.
Rory says of the E.P. “I’ve spent the last few years learning to produce, and up till now I feel like I was circling around the sound I wanted to make. With this EP I feel like I have zero-ed in on what that is.
“I felt so inspired after a recent writing trip to L.A. Scotland’s music scene is such an exciting place to be and I cannot wait to have this E.P. out in the world!”
Spending his time working between Glasgow, London and Los Angeles, Rory James has honed his craft for over a decade. No stranger to the big stages, he has toured with the likes of The 1975 and Catfish and the Bottlemen across Europe, Asia and Africa in previous setup Bwani Junction, plus support slots for Joesef and Hot Chip as Rory James.
Rory recorded and mixed the entire E.P. on his own in his Glasgow flat whilst managing angry neighbours and their home improvement projects, mixing elements of indie and electronic music that he has grown up on. Perfecting blissful dream-pop with an edge, Rory cites everyone from Elvis Costello to Talking Heads to Jamie XX and James Blake as influences.
‘Never Get Tired’ is a big track, simplistic in lyrical content, Rory says: “I find it so satisfying when one hook repeats throughout a song. I love it if you can sum up the sentiment in just a few lines, that’s always an exciting challenge when approaching a track.”
‘Call It Love’ has a dark quality with ethereal production, the synths arranged to sound like they are playing in an empty warehouse.
Of ‘Stay This Way’, Rory explains:.”Like many producers I’ve got a bunch of recordings of outside noises on my phone that I put in tracks from time to time to add a sense of perspective. You can just about hear people talking in French at the start. I have no idea what they’re saying but I liked it!”
‘Only You’ is a track that has been through several different iterations before being perfected by Rory: “I needed a while to get my head around what the song was going to be. Sometimes that leads to great stuff though so there’s no right or wrong.”
Catch Rory James live at his first headline hometown show in Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s on the 31st May. Tickets on-sale here. Rory James also shares the bill with boygenius + Loyle Carner at this year’s Connect Festival on Sunday 27th August. Grab tickets here.
