📀 New Album. New Residency. 🦚
Let’s go!
RE/VISIONS (new best of album) LISTEN ON SPOTIFY NOW - ORDER VINYL TODAY!
Hello friends, readers, listeners, followers, fans—and anyone else who’s been paying attention to what comes out of this Substack.
It’s been a little while. The last email you probably received from me was the final chapter of The Ghost of Emily. That completed the 32-week journey of publishing the entire book here, chapter by chapter, completely free to read. If you missed it, the whole book is still available right here on this Substack. You can scroll through the archives and start from the beginning anytime.
But while my writing world has been quietly resting, my music world has been absolutely on fire.
Today—Sunday June 29—is launch day for my new “Best Of” compilation album: R.E./VISIONS. Ten tracks drawn from my back catalogue, five of them freshly re-sung, re-mixed, and brought into harmony with the rest. This album is a culmination. A reclamation. A celebration. It draws together the best work from every record I’ve released under past stage names, and reintroduces it under my true name: James Alexander.
This marks my first official release of original music under my actual birth name. It feels like the most honest, confident, and complete expression of my artistic self to date. And it’s available right now on all streaming platforms, and also on vinyl via print-on-demand—shipped directly to you from the UK. All links are live.
And if that weren’t enough reason to celebrate: tonight is also the launch party at Den Devine in Broadbeach, during my brand new weekly residency: Soul Sundays.
Tonight marks our fourth edition of Soul Sundays—an event I conceived, pitched, built, and brought to life alongside some truly brilliant collaborators. Every week, we bring together some of Australia’s finest professional musicians for an open jam of soul, funk, gospel, blues, country and everything in between. It’s already growing fast, with a beautiful community forming around it.
And for the first time in my career, I feel like I have a home as a musician. A place to develop and grow new work in front of a live audience. A place to stretch out, take risks, and rehearse in public.
That brings me to the next big thing on the horizon: my upcoming album, Solstice.
Unlike anything I’ve done before, this album is not being rushed. There’s no artificial deadline. No pressure to push demos out the door. Instead, I’ve taken my time. I’ve put together a brilliant band. We’ve rehearsed. We’ve workshopped. And now, thanks to our weekly residency, we’re gigging. Every Sunday, we’re performing these songs again and again, refining them, capturing live versions, exploring arrangements, and letting the material mature. By the time we hit the studio, Solstice will be bulletproof. It will be my best work.
We’ll be releasing some of these live “Den Sessions” in the coming months, and eventually recording the album itself in full. But already, the songs feel ready. The heart is there. And the performances are only getting sweeter.
If you’re not already, I invite you to follow me on Instagram and also the new Soul Sundays account, where we’re posting highlights every week—clips from guest artists, jams, band moments, and magical performances from our gorgeous stage setup at Den Devine. We’re working on launching a YouTube channel and possibly a dedicated Substack with weekly recordings and updates too.
Now that Soul Sundays has found its rhythm, I feel like I have some mindspace for creativity again. I’ve built something stable and sacred, something that doesn’t require me to constantly overextend myself during the week. Between parenting, relationships, and all of life’s other responsibilities, that kind of sustainability is everything for me.
And with that space, I’m beginning to feel the old writing impulse return.
It’s my hope that this next season of life allows me to turn a little of my weekly energy back toward my author world. The Ghost of Emily and The Ghost of Delacroix are stories I still believe in deeply. Their messages feel more relevant than ever in a world now grappling with AI, identity, and what it means to be human. I hope to bring those books into new light, and to finish my third: The Ghost of Melchizedek.
I want to continue expanding this universe, publishing more lore and reflections here on Substack, and refining the vision of the world I’ve built by hand. I must still find a sustainable rhythm to make it all happen—but if the past few months are anything to go by, I’m getting closer.
So: stay tuned.
I’ll be posting more music clips, more writing samples, and perhaps even more behind-the-scenes updates from the Soul Sundays sessions and the Solstice album development. This creative world I’m building is growing in all directions—and I’m glad to have you along for the ride.
Until next time,
Your friend,
James
Listening now 🔥