New Music: James E. Gray – Simulation

Simulation is a trip, in more than one sense of the word, as James E. Gray serves up a track that is wilfully individual and transgressive.

One of those songs has a long story behind it – it took over a decade to finish from conception to release – and it equally tells a story within the ever-evolving terrain of the arrangement. It has flair and drama, as Gray takes microscopic musical moments, from Queen to Muse via segues into the cosmic rock of Henge and Suede’s artistic approach to Britpop, and fashions a track that is anti-fashion, and just a joy to listen to.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste, not in the days of ever-shorter pop songs with a TikTok-friendly face, and that’s what makes Simulation so damn fine. It doesn’t just go against the grain; it crafts something bespoke and, at times baffling from its source material, and is all the better for that.   

Lyrically, it dwells on the nature of reality, life and death, the video riffing off that concept, as the Grim Reaper rides a horse through the Wild West as reality glitches around him.

Revealed Gray about the long gestation period of the track: “With the first demo reaching as far back as 2015, originally titled Simulation Hypothesis after the University of Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom’s paper of the same name, it took sessions in Chestnut Recording Studio, London, and in several home studios over the following decade to complete.”

Hit up James E. Gray on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok to learn more about Simulation, and find listening options for his music.