Set for release on January 10, 2025, through Easy Eye Sound, Early James’ third album, Medium Raw, lives up to its evocative name. With its collection of sharp, witty, and intensely expressive songs, the album’s raw, organic energy resonates deeply, thanks to a deliberately unpolished production approach. Moving beyond the traditional studio setting of his previous albums, James collaborated with producer Dan Auerbach to craft the record in Buddy’s Honky Chateau, a storied Nashville home filled with character and history.
“From the start, we wanted to capture the magic of those first performances where it was just James and his guitar,” Auerbach explains. Inspired by the immediacy of classic Arhoolie Records house recordings, Auerbach chose this intimate and atmospheric setting to elevate the project.
The over-century-old Honky Chateau provided the perfect backdrop, with its textured walls, oak floors, and vintage vibe. The team brought in all the recording equipment themselves, including a 1950s Universal Audio tube console once used at FAME Studios. The band — James, longtime bassist Adrian Marmolejo, drummer Jeff Clemens, and percussionist Sam Bacco — recorded in different rooms of the house, creating a soundscape that feels alive and immersive.
James embraced the album’s unfiltered ethos, with nearly all tracks captured “as is.” “There are only two overdubs,” James shares. “We wanted the songs to feel honest and lived-in, and you can hear that in the way we recorded, with minimal barriers between the instruments and mics. It wasn’t about perfection — it was about capturing the moment.”
The record also showcases collaborations with songwriting heavyweights like Pat McLaughlin (“I Got This Problem”), Jeff Trott (“Nothing Surprises Me Anymore”), Langhorne Slim (“Go Down Swinging”), Mick Flannery (“Upside Down Umbrella”), and James’ former roommate Ryan Sobb (“Unspeakable Thing”). The writing shines with James’ signature style: clever turns of phrase, surprising twists on familiar themes, and humor that spans the spectrum from lighthearted to hauntingly dark.
The album’s first single, “Rag Doll,” encapsulates Medium Raw’s essence. The track’s Tim Hardiman-directed video, filmed at Birmingham, AL’s historic Sloss Furnaces, contrasts stark black-and-white visuals with bursts of vivid color, mirroring the song’s raw emotion and layered intensity.
Blending jagged blues, introspective lyrics, and gritty sonic textures, Medium Raw cements Early James as a truly unique voice in contemporary music — one that refuses to be confined by convention or polish. As he prepares to tour with The Wallflowers, The Heavy Heavy, and St. Paul & the Broken Bones this fall before heading to Europe in November, Medium Raw promises to take listeners on a journey as compelling and complex as its creator. – Jason Felton