James Ellis Ford

Lost In Another World is James Ellis Ford’s (known for his production work with Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Depeche Mode and as both a solo artist and one half of Simian Mobile Disco) excellent, emotionally resonant second solo album.  It was made from start to finish in just over two weeks in early 2025, while James was on a hospital ward between punishing rounds of chemotherapy, following a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells. Perhaps surprisingly none of Lost In Another World is self-pitying. If anything it comes across as a celebration of love. While some of the songs on the album grapple with a clear and present existential fear of death, the calmness of the cancer ward can be credited for the serenity of the album. “They are very, very still, you can end up feeling like you’re on a space voyage.” But no matter how cosmic or psychedelic the sounds are, the lyrics form a long silvery thread connecting him to a very earthbound and frightening experience: “Now I'm trusting in the process/ But it really fucking hurts/ And I'm not sure this poison/ Isn't just making it worse”. These songs share the rare unconscious vulnerability of Robert Wyatt or the carefree directness of Paul McCartney, and despite the temptation to do further work on Lost In Another World when he returned home, James essentially left it as it was: “The album is like a photograph. A time capsule.” Lost In Another World shares the experiences