Founding members of Scottish band The Jesus & Mary Chain William and Jim Reid, along with critic and ghostwriter Ben Thompson, have written a memoir titled Never Understood, The Story of The Jesus & Mary Chain set for release on August 15 in the UK via White Rabbit and September 3 in the US via Hachette Books. The book delves into the origins of the band, their rise to fame and personal battles they faced along the way. In addition to their brotherly strife and struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, Never Understood is said to come together as “a love letter to the Scottish working-class family.” The book blurs the line between present and recent past, illuminating hidden vistas of the group’s psychic hinterland.
The title of the memoir was originally Never Understand but William suggested the lesser-known 1998 song Never Understood, which was chosen to represent the way the book seeps into the turbulent and recent past of the band. In an interview with White Rabbit, publisher Lee Brackstone described the biography as “one of the greatest music memoirs I have ever published” and the standard hardback edition of the book is priced at £25.
In November, the band gave an interview with NME concerning their new album Glasgow Eyes and the single Jamcod. The new release was described as a reflection of “painful past issues” that included the break-up of the band, which occurred in 1999, and “what it was like” during their drug-use days.
Despite being unable to play in the same band due to frequent arguments, William and Jim spent five years living on the dole in their parents’ council house in East Kilbride. Dreaming of different possible band scenarios, they eventually realized that they were ultimately imagining the same ensemble and The Jesus & Mary Chain was formed
Read the full article on NME here: Read More