James: Laid (single)

Laid was a theme tune for a relationship in 1993, when it came out, on account of the third line. I love its bristling energy, which captures the same obsessive compulsive desire that James do so well (and which was ultimately the undoing of that relationship in 1999).

The Lake sounds like it's an out-take from Laid, the album, and it's a really good ballad (in the traditional sense rather than the Jennifer Rush sense). Wah Wah Kits and Seconds Away must be out-takes from Wah Wah, the improvised album that James recorded in parallel with Laid. I remember reading somewhere how Tim Booth was pissed off at the challenge these improvisations created for him as a singer: it's possible to make up a half-decent bass line on the spot, but most lyrics that come off the top of your head benefit from at least a small amount of revision, unless you're Jack Kerouac.

MusicBrainz entry for this album