‘Cinematic, exciting and unconventional…..’
Rolling Stone Magazine
BIO
Singer/songwriter/producer JAMES COOK, in 2026, releases his 11th original studio album, and his first fully electronic album… JAMES NEMO (vol. 2) FUTURE CITIES (Of The Past). This release completes a trio of eclectic albums made between 2024/6 incl. 2025’s orchestral meisterwerk ‘DOLLHOUSE II’ preceded by his 5th solo album, indie noise pop, guitar heavy ‘Inside Out’. His DeepSeeMusic label has released chronological vinyl ‘best of’s’ spanning 21 years of album releases. Over this time, Cook has performed his music in UK, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, RUSSIA, SWITZERLAND, CZECHIA, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, FRANCE, ITALY, USA, ARGENTINA and URUGUAY with his band NEMO, THE DOLLHOUSE, as a solo artist, and as influential guitarist/vocalist/synth player with seminal electronic acts IAMX and IMOGEN HEAP.
Previous solo albums include baroque/indie/electro masterpiece ‘ARTS & SCIENCES’ (described by Rolling Stone as ‘Like an experimental DIVINE COMEDY’), his epic second album ‘ADVENTURES IN AUSLAND’ (Ausland is German for ‘abroad’ or ‘outside’, after which he named his 2015 North London Alternative Pop Cabaret Night ‘Outsiders’) and third solo effort ‘ANTI LOVE SONGS’, a more aggressive, guitar/synth heavy album. His fourth album from early 2020, was prophetically titled ‘THE NEW NORMAL’ after his 2019 Berlin music night.
Cook’s previous incarnation was as frontman and principal writer for NEMO, one of 21st century London’s first, and finest, underground electro rock acts. Between 2004 and 2008, through three successive international album releases, especially breakthrough second album 2006’s ‘POST HUMAN LOVE’, the cult synth rock group helped anticipate and inform the British indie/electronic scene, initially via their seminal early 00s electro-centric club ‘The System’. Described by Grammy award winning artist IMOGEN HEAP as ‘London’s best kept secret’, they collaborated together in 2006/7 as both her support act and backing band.
During this time, James also toured as guitarist for legendary underground synth mavens IAMX, appeared in and wrote songs for numerous Mighty Boosh episodes, as producer won a best album Czech Grammy with Prague HardcorePopsters SUNSHINE and with NEMO, won Montreaux Jazz Festival’s ‘Under The Sky’ award for best band 2006, earning a prestigious main stage appearance in 2007 opening for the legendary ‘Sly & The Family Stone’.
After moving to Berlin in 2008, Cook enjoyed a creative rebirth, disbanding NEMO and completing 2010’s Baroque Pop classic ‘The Dollhouse’ with violinist/string arranger Anne-Marie Kirby. When Cook decided to go solo in 2010, Kirby contributed string arrangements across three solo albums. Cook has worked in collaboration with countless directors on music videos over the last 20 years, from 2006’s NEMO classic ‘LIFESPAN’ to his brace of videos in 2025 ’20 HORSES’ and ‘ATLAS CLOUD’, both directed by Monica Pokorná. JAMES was invited to support the legendary Lene Lovich in 2024, as well as contributing guest vocals and performing with Berlin avant kraut Neo classicist DIE WILDE JAGD (Sebastian Lee Philipp), who co-produced 2025’s DOLLHOUSE II.
The 20th anniversary vinyl retrospective JAMES NEMO (vol one) featuring remixes, remasters and re-recordings and the compilation JAMES COOK (vol one) plus 5th solo album ‘INSIDE OUT’, DOLLHOUSE II and now JAMES NEMO (vol. 2) YESTERDAY_TOMORROW. These albums are part of a collection of 5 vinyl releases in as many years. James is working towards a full box set discography.
DISCOGRAPHY
2004: FIVE MINUTE HEROES (NEMO)
2006: POST HUMAN LOVE (NEMO)
2008: THE THIRD WAVE (NEMO)
2010: THE DOLLHOUSE
2012: ARTS & SCIENCES
2013: REVERSE ENGINEERING (VOL I)
2014: ADVENTURES IN AUSLAND
2016: ANTI LOVE SONGS
2020: THE NEW NORMAL
2021: REVERSE ENGINEERING (VOL II)
2022: JAMES NEMO (VOL ONE)
2023: JAMES COOK (VOL ONE)
2024: INSIDE OUT
2025: THE DOLLHOUSE II
2026 JAMES NEMO (VOL TWO) YESTERDAY_TOMORROW