Book info

• Title Over the Rainbow
• Author Alex James
• Year 2024
• Genre Memoir

One winter’s night, Alex James received an unexpected call. Blur had been invited to play their biggest gig ever: Wembley Stadium. The only trouble was, he and his bandmates hadn’t spoken to – or even shouted at – each other for years. And he now had five children, an out-of-control menagerie of cats, and a sprawling farm to run. This is the story of what happened next. Taking us behind the scenes of a raucous, rollercoaster year, Alex describes how the band made a surprise – and emotional – return, recording an acclaimed album and playing sold-out shows around the world, from Colchester to Colombia and beyond. Plus: how he went on a crash diet to fit back into his ‘Britpop Trousers,’ somehow organised an entire festival of his own, and tried to perfect the recipe for a giant Frazzle. Over the Rainbow is a heartfelt and hilarious account of what it feels like to be catapulted back into the limelight with one of the world’s biggest bands. It is a love letter to Blur, to friendship and to music. And it shows us all that, however old – or hungover – we might feel, nothing’s ever truly over: it’s always just the start of the next thing.

Thoughts

This is a fantastic short book documenting the year that saw Alex James reform with Blur for some huge gigs and a global tour, alongside putting on the annual Feastival at his farm, running said farm, and looking after a sizable family. It’s told so well, entirely engagingly, with great humour but also a knack for bringing you into the situation - whether that is euphoria, or exhaustion, or quite a lot of hangovers, it sounds like. I really enjoyed reading this and actually learnt quite a lot about James and Blur despite how short it is.

Rating: 5 / 5