Wendy James: Watch Queen High Straight from New Album-Out Now

English singer-songwriter Wendy, who was born in London, exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless front woman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. When the band disbanded Wendy went on to collaborate with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy & the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), who joins her on drums and percussions for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT. Also joining her on this album are James Sedwards (lead guitar), Harry Bohay (bass), Alex J. Ward & Terry Edwards (horn section) and Louis Vause (accordion). 

Wendy’s genre defying album embraces Motown with ‘Here Comes The Beautiful One’ and recently released ‘Little Melvin’. She returns, once again, to her favourite guitar guttural filth and sex for first AA single ‘Perilous Beauty’ and an unlikely sounding love song in ‘Chicken Street’. She finds a 90’s pop groove in ‘Ratfucking’, melancholia in ‘Testimonial’, Django Reinhardt whimsy in ‘I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes’. On ‘The Impression Of Normalcy’, Wendy says, “Thanks to James Sclavunos, who told me to “speed the fucking song up”, I have a proper speed punk song.” Finally, track 20 ‘Kill Some Time Blues’ is the ultimate 60’s girl group number. 

Last year Wendy toured the UK with her permanent band THE WENDY JAMES BAND opening for The Psychedelic Furs, which was a huge success. Due to Covid-19 Wendy has rescheduled her 19-date UK tour.

Wendy currently divides her time between New York City, Paris, South France and London.

“packed with 20 songs, remarkably filler-free, brimming with colourful vocabulary, catty character study, melodic excellence and stylistic dexterity… She means it, man, and it’s a joy throughout.” – 4/5 MOJO

"A superior collection of cosmopolitan pop music, the 20-song set is both catchy and complex.” - The Telegraph “A Motown flecked ode” (Little Melvin) – The Times "A characteristically ambitious album, a double, 20 songs… a varied retro-pop clutch; James knows her way around the chords, and how to keep things moving. But the charm lies in their personality..." - Metro “Written, produced and mixed by (ex-Transivision Vamp) Wendy James fronting a strong band and dabbling in a dizzying variety of styles.” - Classic Rock  “stylish, vintage sounds, in thrall to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and 1960s pop.” - 4/5 Mail on Sunday  "Wendy gets the last laugh with an up-for-it 20-song double album of punk, rock & roll and general mayhem. Just as energetic as the Vamps, the songs are sharper than ever." - Daily Star