JIM - The Curious Case Of Existence JIM

When the first JIM album, Love Makes Magic, was released in 2023, it was the end product of an experiment that had begun during the strange days of the pandemic. Cooped up in his studio, James Baron started fiddling about with an as-yet unnamed new album idea. It became Vicious Charm's first LP release. Labelled variously as Balearic, folktronica, blue-eyed soul, and Laurel Canyon, Love Makes Magic was perhaps all and none of those things: a record rooted less in Californian mythology than in Baron's own musical world, somewhere between Sherwood, Nottingham, classic songwriting, electronic soul, and the no-nonsense good times that have long run through his work under his other monikers (principally the anagrammatic Ron Basejam and, of course, Crazy P). One thing was indisputable, it connected with people... and still does.

The album was a minor hit, appearing in many a Best of 2023 chart and voted Album of the Year in Bill Brewster's Furtive 50. A tour and a few memorable festival appearances, his 2024 We Out Here Festival performance being one of those wonderfully timed moments, perfectly captured the horizontal vibes on the album while injecting some live energy into its delivery. While there was a follow-up remix album for Love Makes Magic, JIM was already preparing a sophomore LP: "I wrote the majority of The Curious Case Of Existence in a couple of months at the beginning of 2024, then it was just a case of making the record over the next couple of years in between everything else."

Several tracks were overseen by veteran scene godfather Eddie Stevens (Moloko, Sia, Zero 7), who offered ideas, counselling, and keyboards when it was most needed. He also recruited the usual Nottingham-based comrades, including Crazy P drummer Matt Klose, Tim Davies (guitar on Windmills), Simon Patterson (bass on Windmills), and buddies Torn Sail (Huw Costin, Henry Claude, and John Thompson). This album also sees new vocal collaborators from both ends of the spectrum. Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson appears on Chalet Cafe with a typically loquacious contribution, while Edie Baron, James Baron's teenage daughter, makes her recording debut on the album's first single, Love Over Gold, delivering an indelibly mature performance.