JAMES have always defied categorisation. Originally hailed as a whimsical version of the Smiths, they were ultimately likened to grandiose stadium-fillers like U2.

The truth is they were neither. Driven by singer Tim Booth’s unique take on the world, and underpinned by those jangling guitars and glorious harmonies, they ploughed their own very singular furrow, while producing at least three classic spine-tingling anthems (Sit Down, She’s A Star and Seven). Although La Petite Mort doesn’t reach those heady heights, it is a mighty fine record.

The album’s title, La Petite Mort, is deliberately ambiguous. Referring both to the recent deaths of Booth’s mother and best friend and to a post-coital state of body and mind, it highlights his dual fascination with death and sex.

Both are key themes here, sometimes explicitly addressed in Booth’s teasing lyrics, sometimes cloaked in opaque wordplay. The outstanding track, Walk Like You, is a rousing anthem, which takes a wry look at the emotional space between generations, already highlighted in James classics like Born Of Frustration and Ten Below.

Meanwhile Curse, Curse sees Booth at his story-telling best, with a maelstrom of emotions swirling around his head as he drinks tequila, watches football and thinks about sex in a lonely hotel room miles away from home. Interrogation is a Kafka-esque take on a society, where guilt is too often taken for granted, while Frozen Britain, already a BBC 6 Music favourite, contains the great line: “Emily come to bed and make a boy out of me.”

James are defined by Tim Booth’s astonishing voice. Rich, warm, expressive and engrossing, it remains one of the finest in contemporary rock. But the band are all excellent musicians, with guitarist Larry Gott and violinist Saul Davies outstanding on La Petite Mort.

When James split in 2006, there was a good deal of genuine sadness – not only among the band’s more loopy, goofy followers, but also among those of us who felt James were one of the finest bands of the 1990s.

The band’s triumphant reunion, which has been marked by a couple of great albums and featured a superb gig in Leeds last summer, has put a smile back on all our faces. Booth, originally from Boston Spa, and his band had literally – and metaphorically – Come Home.