James Righton has released a new single called “Empty Rooms“. It’s the latest track to come from his new album Jim, I’m Still Here, which is due out on July 8th via DEEWEE. And the track has a special guest on keyboards as well – ABBA legend Benny Andersson.
“Very happy to announce my new album JIM, I’M STILL HERE will be released on July 8th on @deeweestudio. Produced between myself and @Soulwax.”https://t.co/bO6WwtTEoQ
1/5 pic.twitter.com/7ykdic3w75— James Righton (@James__Righton) April 5, 2022
The two met when Righton was helping put together the live band for ABBA’s upcoming Voyage shows in London in celebration of their latest LP. Starting on May 27th in the new ABBA Arena, the show will have the group appearing virtually beside the live band that Righton has helped to build.
He was brought into the project by Johan Renck (director of Bowie’s “Blackstar” video) and couldn’t really turn down the opportunity, working in secret for two years with one of the most iconic bands of the seventies. He admitted that “trying not to say anything to anyone is quite hard when you’re working with such a legendary act like ABBA”.
Righton was of course keen to make the most of the opportunity, noting that the very mention of working with ABBA made his jaw drop. “Whenever you hear an ABBA reunion rumour it just feels so unbelievable.” On working with Andersson for his new track, he said Andersson had “never done anything like this before. I nervously sent him the track and a couple of days later he sent back this keyboard line which was perfect.”
As for the song itself; “Empty Rooms’ is about silent conflicts. It’s about realising one’s own flaws and working through them. Like all the songs on the album it reflects another side of life during lockdown.”
Righton, who used to be a member of Klaxons until the group disbanded back in 2015, has been working on a variety of projects as of late. Some of these have been released under the name of Shock Machine, and he’s even been having a go at film soundtracks recently (e.g. 2019’s Benjamin).
If you’re interested in seeing how Brighton’s hard work has paid off, tickets for ABBA’s Voyage residency can be gotten here.
If you want to pre-order Brighton’s new album then you can click the link here. He’s also got some live dates coming up around Europe and the UK later on this year, visiting the likes of London, Glasgow, Paris and Berlin. You can see the UK dates down below and use the previous link to find tickets.
James Brighton UK Tour Dates
26/08/2022 – Thorington Theatre – Saxmundham
14/09 – Moth Club – London
15/09 – Headrow House – Leeds
16/09 – Broadcast – Glasgow
