The James covers their favorite and rare songs with orchestra and choir accompaniment.
The James will release a new double album to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band.
'Be Opened By The Wonderful' will feature some of James' most beloved and rare songs re-performed with a 22-piece orchestra and an 8-piece choir.
The double album will be released on June 9 by Virgin Music and will be available digitally as well as on CD and vinyl and will also feature a brand new song, 'Love Make A Fool', which will be released in April.
The digital and CD editions will contain 20 songs, while the vinyl edition will feature 19 songs.
'Be Opened By The Wonderful' was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester orchestrated and musically directed by Joe Duddell with the ORCA22 Orchestra conducted by Andra Vornicu and the Manchester Inspirational Voices Choir conducted by Wayne Ellington.
To celebrate 40 years as a band, James will also perform a headline set at Latitude Festival, appearing as Special Guests in a slot created especially for them in honor of their anniversary. In this appearance they will be accompanied by an orchestra and a choir.
Tim Booth of James states: “Life begins at 40. For the euphoria of middle age we recorded a double instrumental album of some of our lesser known songs. If you already have a golden ticket, you'll hear it on tour and at Latitude Festival. Bring your wings and come ready to fly."
Joe Duddell comments: "Having attended the first six years of Latitude Festival, I'm thrilled to be joining James' extraordinary Main Stage Show this year in a UK festival exclusive."
"The James have always been a great festival band, combining their extensive and much-loved discography with newer songs that instantly feel like they've been around forever," he adds.
As previously announced, James will be headlining concerts across the UK from April to May as part of their 'James Lasted' tour, with stops at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall.
Their tour will conclude at London's Royal Albert Hall on May 17. Tickets for the 'James Lasted' tour sold out in a record 6 hours.
James, one of Britain's most enduring success stories, have released 16 studio albums, which have sold over 25 million copies.
Their recent run of Top 5 albums proved to be a golden era for the band.
2021's 'All The Colors Of You' was their most critically acclaimed album in years, preceded by 'Living in Extraordinary Times' and 'Girl at the End of the World', which missed out narrowly topped the charts in 2016 by Adele.
The James are Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies, Adrian Oxaal, David Baynton-Power, Mark Hunter, Andy Diagram, Chloe Alper and Deborah Knox-Hewson.
"Be Opened By The Wonderful" tracklist
Disc 1
1. Sometimes
2. Love Make A Fool
3. We're Gonna Miss You
4. Tomorrow
5. The Lake
6. She's A Star
7. Lookaway
8. Sit Down
9. Alaskan Pipeline
Disc 2
1. Someone's Got It In For Me
2. Hey Ma
3. Hello
4. Beautiful Beaches
5. Why So Close
6. Medieval
7. Hymn From A Village
8. Say Something
9. Top Of The World
10. Moving On
11. Laid
