# Jim Irvin

Jim Irvin is an English singer, songwriter, music journalist and podcast host.

## Early life

Born James Lawrence Irvin and raised in west London.

## Career
### Furniture

Irvin was the singer in the English new wave band Furniture, who released singles and albums with Survival, Stiff and Arista Records between 1982 and 1990. He co-wrote their 1986 UK hit single, "Brilliant Mind", taken from the album, The Wrong People. The song also appeared in the John Hughes movie, Some Kind of Wonderful and was re-recorded for the soundtrack. Furniture made one further album, Food, Sex & Paranoia, for Arista (1990), and disbanded in 1991. In 1992, Irvin recorded an album, Mad Scared Dumb and Gorgeous with jazz musician Chris Ingham, under the name Because. It was released on Boo Hewerdine's Haven label.
In 2019, Emotional Rescue records reissued Furniture's debut, six-song mini-album, When the Boom Was On (1983) and an EP of 12" mixes called On Broken Glass

### Music journalism

In 1991, Irvin began contributing to Melody Maker magazine, where his work appeared under the name Jim Arundel. He was later made reviews editor. In 1994, reverting to Jim Irvin, he became the founding features editor of Mojo magazine. One of his most notable pieces for the magazine was "Angel of Avalon", a major profile of the late Sandy Denny, published in 1998. He also edited an acclaimed book, The Mojo Collection. He has written for The Word, Time Out, The Sunday Times and The Guardian and continues to write a reissues column for Mojo.
In February 2015, he published an e-book, A Book Of Wild Flowers, which collected his writings on Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush.
In May 2018, he co-authored Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye (Post Hill Press), a biography of Jeff Buckley written with Dave Lory, the singer's former manager.
In 2020, he launched a podcast, “Here’s One I Made Earlier” where he interviewed musical creators about a significant work in their career. The following year he launched a second podcast “You’re Not On The List” dedicated to “forgotten albums and the people who love them”, in which guests nominate undervalued albums and discuss them.

### Later production and songwriting

In 1995, Irvin produced the first demos by the band Gay Dad, and co-write some of the songs which later appeared on their debut album, Leisure Noise. Their single, "Oh Jim", was said to be dedicated to him.
In 1999, he produced Lido, the debut album by Clearlake, released in 2000 on his own label, Dusty Company, an offshoot of Domino Records.
Irvin returned to full-time songwriting in 2001, concentrating initially on dance music. He co-wrote the 2004 hit "The Weekend" by Michael Gray, and had work recorded by Groove Armada, Full Intention and David Guetta.
Since 2006, his work has been mostly outside dance music, with artists like Lana Del Rey, Lissie, Simple Plan, Jack Savoretti, Unloved, Nothing but Thieves and Yungblud.
The song "Love", co-written with and performed by Unloved, introduced the Apple Keynote Speech in March 2019.

## Discography

| Year | Artist | Album | Song | Co-written with | Notes | Chart Position |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Nothing But Thieves | Dead Club City | “Welcome To The DCC" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | “Welcome To The DCC" voted Hottest Record of the Year by BBC Radio 1 listeners. | UK No.1, Netherlands No 1, Australia No.10 |
| 2023 | Nothing But Thieves | Dead Club City | ”Members Only" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | “Welcome To The DCC" voted Hottest Record of the Year by BBC Radio 1 listeners. | UK No.1, Netherlands No 1, Australia No.10 |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Man Made Sunshine | "Man-Made Sunshine" EP | "Life's Gonna Kill You If You let It"" | Conor Mason, Avi Barath | Single | |
| 2022 | Man Made Sunshine | "Man-Made Sunshine" EP | "Big" | Conor Mason, Julian Emery | | |
| 2022 | Man Made Sunshine | "Man-Made Sunshine" EP | "Little Bird" | Conor Mason, Julian Emery | | |
| 2022 | Man Made Sunshine | "Man-Made Sunshine" EP | "Rosebud" | Conor Mason, Justin Parker | | |
| 2022 | Yungblud | Yungblud | "Cruel Kids" | Yungblud, Dan Smith, Andrew Wells, Adam Warrington, Chris Greatti, Matt Schwartz, Gregory 'Aldee' Hein, Jordan Brasko Gable. | | No. 1 UK, No.1 IRE, No.1 NL, No.1 Australia, No.1 Austria No.2 BEL, No. 45 US Billboard, No. 7 US Rock |
| 2021 |
| 2021 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic II" | “Miracle, Baby" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | |
| 2021 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic II" | ”Your Blood" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | |
| 2021 | You Me At Six | SUCKAPUNCH | "SUCKAPUNCH" | You Me At Six, Julian Emery | | UK No.1 |
| 2020 | You Me At Six | SUCKAPUNCH | | | | UK No.1 |
| 2020 | Sianon | - | "Sad Bop" | Sianon, Julien Flew | singles | |
| 2020 | Sianon | - | "Make Me Jealous" | Sianon, Julien Flew | singles | |
| 2020 | Sianon | - | "Cry, Cry, Cry" | Sianon, Julien Flew | singles | |
| 2020 | Sianon | - | "Overthinking" | Sianon, Julien Flew | singles | |
| 2020 | Stelahr | 'Starz' | "Starz" | Stella Franke | single | |
| 2020 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic" | "Real Love Song" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | "Impossible" voted Radio X Song Of The Year 2020 | No.3 UK, No.5 NL, No.8 AUS |
| 2020 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic" | "Impossible" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | "Impossible" voted Radio X Song Of The Year 2020 | No.3 UK, No.5 NL, No.8 AUS |
| 2020 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic" | "Phobia" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | "Impossible" voted Radio X Song Of The Year 2020 | No.3 UK, No.5 NL, No.8 AUS |
| 2020 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic" | "There Was Sun" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | "Impossible" voted Radio X Song Of The Year 2020 | No.3 UK, No.5 NL, No.8 AUS |
| 2020 | Nothing But Thieves | "Moral Panic" | "Free If We Want It" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | "Impossible" voted Radio X Song Of The Year 2020 | No.3 UK, No.5 NL, No.8 AUS |
| 2020 | BLOXX | "Lie Out Loud" | "Go Out With You" | Julian Emery, BLOXX | singles | |
| 2020 | BLOXX | "Lie Out Loud" | "5000 Miles" | Ophelia Booth, Jennifer Decelvio, Julian Emery | singles | |
| 2020 | Broken Hands | Split in Two | "Can You Feel It" | Broken Hands, Julian Emery | | |
| 2020 | Broken Hands | Split in Two | "Lazarus" | Broken Hands, Julian Emery | | |
| 2020 | Broken Hands | Split in Two | "Wrong Track" | Broken Hands, Julian Emery | | |
| 2020 | Broken Hands | Split in Two | "Run Away" | Broken Hands, Julian Emery | | |
| 2020 | Ten Times A Million | Born Tomorrow | "Bye" | Ten Times A Million, Julian Emery | EP | |
| 2020 | Ten Times A Million | Born Tomorrow | "Make It Stop" | Ten Times A Million, Julian Emery | EP | |
| 2020 | Ten Times A Million | Born Tomorrow | "Born Tomorrow" | Ten Times A Million, Julian Emery | EP | |
| 2020 | Ten Times A Million | Born Tomorrow | "Good Times" | Ten Times A Million, Julian Emery | EP | |
| 2020 | Airways | 'Out Of Luck' | "Out Of Luck" | Jake Daniels, Dom Craik | single | |
| 2020 | Lissie | When I'n Alone: The Piano Retrospective | "When I'm Alone" | Lissie, Julian Emery | | |
| 2020 | Lissie | When I'n Alone: The Piano Retrospective | "in Sleep" | Lissie, Julian Emery | | |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | The Amazons | 'Future Dust' | "Doubt It" | The Amazons, Julian Emery, Nick Atkinson | single | |
| 2019 | Unloved | Heartbreak | "Devils, Angels" | Keefus Ciancia, Jade Vincent, David Holmes | "Love" used to introduce Apple Keynote, March 2019 | |
| 2019 | Unloved | Heartbreak | "Love" | Keefus Ciancia, Jade Vincent, David Holmes | "Love" used to introduce Apple Keynote, March 2019 | |
| 2019 | Unloved | Heartbreak | "Heatbreak" | Keefus Ciancia, Jade Vincent, David Holmes | "Love" used to introduce Apple Keynote, March 2019 | |
| 2019 | Airways | 'Trampoline/The End' | "Trampoline" | Jake Daniels, Dom Craik | single | |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Airways | 'Blue Gasoline' | "Blue Gasoline" | Jake Daniels, Dom Craik | single | |
| 2018 | Airways | 'Alien' | "Alien" | Jake Daniels, Dom Craik | single | |
| 2018 | Nothing But Thieves | What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? | "Gods" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | EP | UK 8 iTunes |
| 2018 | Nothing But Thieves | What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? | "You Know Me Too Well" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | EP | UK 8 iTunes |
| 2018 | Nothing But Thieves | What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? | "Take This Lonely Heart" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | EP | UK 8 iTunes |
| 2018 | Black Honey | Black Honey | "What Happened To You" | Izzy Bee Philips, Emre Ramazangalou | | UK 33 |
| 2018 | The Wrecks | Panic Vertigo (EP) | "James Dean" | Nick Anderson, Julian Emery | | |
| 2018 | Lissie | Castles | "Peace" | Lissie, Julian Emery | | UK No. 9 |
| 2018 | Lissie | Castles | "Somewhere" | Lissie, Julian Emery | | |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "I Was Just A Kid" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "Sorry" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "Broken Machine" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "I’m Not Made By Design" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "Get Better" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Nothing But Thieves | Broken Machine | "Hell Yeah" | Nothing But Thieves, Julian Emery | | #2 Album UK |
| 2017 | Airways | Starting to Spin EP | "Starting To Spin" | Julian Emery, Jake Daniels and Brian Moroney | | |
| 2017 | Airways | Starting to Spin EP | "White Noise Boys" | Julian Emery, Jake Daniels and Brian Moroney | | |
| 2017 | Airways | Starting to Spin EP | "One Foot" | Julian Emery, Jake Daniels and Brian Moroney | | |
| 2017 | Airways | Starting to Spin EP | "Mate" | Jake Daniels and Dom Craik | | |
| 2016 | Lissie | My Wild West | "Ojai" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | #16 UK Album #9 Norwegian Albums |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Excuse Me" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Graveyard Whistling" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Hostage" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Trip Switch" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | #1 Single Alternative Songs – Billboard |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Tempt You (Evocatio)" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Hanging" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | Nothing But Thieves | "Neon Brother" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | Album UK No. 7 |
| 2015 | Nothing But Thieves | "Ban All the Music" (single) | "Ban All the Music" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | |
| 2014 | Chlöe Howl | "Rumour" (single) | "Rumour" | Julian Emery, Chlöe Howl | | |
| 2014 | Lewis Watson | The Morning | "Stones Around the Sun" | Julian Emery, Lewis Watson | | UK No. 28 |
| 2014 | Lower Than Atlantis | Lower Than Atlantis | "Live Slow, Die Old" | Julian Emery, Lower Than Atlantis | | Album UK No. 12 |
| 2014 | Lower Than Atlantis | Lower Than Atlantis | "Time" | Julian Emery, Lower Than Atlantis | | |
| 2014 | Lower Than Atlantis | Lower Than Atlantis | "Number 1" | Julian Emery, Lower Than Atlantis | | |
| 2014 | Nothing But Thieves | Graveyard Whistling EP | "Graveyard Whistling" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | |
| 2014 | Nothing But Thieves | Graveyard Whistling EP | "Last Orders" | Julian Emery, Nothing But Thieves | | |
| 2014 | Pixie Lott | Pixie Lott | "Break Up Song" | Rami Afuni, Pixie Lott | | Album UK No. 15 |
| 2014 | Pixie Lott | Pixie Lott | "Oceans" | Pixie Lott, Jerry Abbott | | |
| 2014 | Pixie Lott | Pixie Lott | "Leaving You" | Pixie Lott, Jerry Abbott | | |
| 2014 | Ruth Lorenzo | Planeta Azul | "Dancing in the Rain" | Julian Emery, Ruth Lorenzo | Spanish Eurovision entry. Placed 9th. | |
| 2013 | Lissie | Back to Forever | "Shameless" | Julian Emery, Lissie | single | Album UK No. 16 |
| 2013 | Lissie | Back to Forever | "Further Away (Romance Police)" | Julian Emery, Lissie | single | |
| 2013 | Lissie | Back to Forever | "The Habit" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | |
| 2013 | Lissie | Back to Forever | "What's It Like" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | |
| 2013 | Lissie | Back to Forever | "They All Want You" | Lissie, Angelo Petraglia | | |
| 2013 | Ryan Beatty | "Chameleon" | "Chameleon" | Julian Emery, Ryan Beatty, Elisabeth Maurus | Single | |
| 2013 | Ryan Beatty | "Chameleon" | "Love Will Come My Way" | Julian Emery, Ryan Beatty, Elisabeth Maurus | Single | |
| 2013 | Gabrielle Aplin | English Rain | "Start of Time" | Julian Emery, Gabrielle Aplin | | UK No. 2 |
| 2013 | Gavin DeGraw | Make a Move | "Every Little Bit" | Julian Emery, Gavin Degraw | | US No. 10 |
| 2013 | Josh Krajcik | Blindly, Lonely, Lovely | "Her Song” | Julian Emery, Josh Krajcik | | |
| 2013 | Lee DeWyze | Frames | "You Don't Know Me" | Julian Emery, Lee DeWyze | | US No. 116 |
| 2013 | Alex Hepburn | Together Alone | "Get Heavy" | Julian Emery, Alex Hepburn | | France No. 2 |
| 2013 | Alex Hepburn | Together Alone | "Crown of Thorns" | Julian Emery, Alex Hepburn | | |
| 2012 | Lana Del Rey | Born to Die | This Is What Makes Us Girls | Tim Larcombe, Lana Del Rey | | UK No. 1, US No. 2 |
| 2012 | Various Cruelties | Various Cruelties (2012) | "Beautiful Delerium” | Julian Emery, Liam O'Donnell | | |
| 2012 | Jack Savoretti | Before the Storm (2012) | "Lifetime" | Julian Emery, Jack Savoretti | | |
| 2012 | Halestorm | The Strange Case Of... (2012) | "Rock Show" | Julian Emery, Lzzy Hale | | US No. 15, UK 49 |
| 2012 | Halestorm | The Strange Case Of... (2012) | "Don’t Know How to Stop" | Julian Emery, Lzzy Hale | | US No. 15, UK 49 |
| 2012 | Audra Mae and The Almighty Sounds | Audra Mae and The Almighty Sounds (2012) | "Jebidiah Moonshine's Friday Night Shack Party" | Julian Emery, Audra Mae | | |
| 2011 | Simple Plan | Get Your Heart On | "Freaking Me Out" | Julian Emery, Chuck Comeau, Pierre Bouvier | | CAN No. 2 |
| 2011 | Simple Plan | Get Your Heart On | "Astronaut" | Julian Emery, Chuck Comeau, Pierre Bouvier | | |
| 2011 | Simple Plan | Get Your Heart On | "Fire in My Heart" | Julian Emery, Chuck Comeau, Pierre Bouvier | | |
| 2011 | David Cook | This Loud Morning | "Paper Heart" | Julian Emery, David Cook | | US No. 7 |
| 2011 | David Cook | This Loud Morning | "We Believe" | Julian Emery, David Cook | | |
| 2011 | Michelle Branch | The Loud Music Hits EP | "Loud Music" | Julian Emery | single | |
| 2010 | Lissie | Catching a Tiger | "When I'm Alone" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | UK No. 12 |
| 2010 | Lissie | Catching a Tiger | "In Sleep" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | |
| 2010 | Lissie | Catching a Tiger | "Loosen the Knot" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | |
| 2010 | Lissie | Catching a Tiger | "Cuckoo" | Julian Emery, Lissie | | |
| 2010 | Boyzone | Brother | "Separate Cars” | Julian Emery, Jack McManus, Jon Green | | UK No. 1 |
| 2010 | Zucchero Fornaciari | Chocabeck | "Devil in the Mirror" | Zucchero Fornaciari | | Italy No. 1 |
| 2010 | Zucchero Fornaciari | Chocabeck | "Spirit / Together" | Zucchero Fornaciari, Iggy Pop | | |
| 2007 | David Guetta | Pop Life | "Do Something Love" | Garraud, David Guetta, Ben Chapman, Juliet Richardson | | France No. 2 |
| 2007 | Groove Armada | Soundboy Rock | "From the Rooftops” | Jack McManus, Andy Cato, Tom Findlay | | UK No. 10 |
| 2004 | Michael Gray | "The Weekend" (single) | "The Weekend” | Oliver Cheatham, Michael Gray, Sally Still | | UK No. 7 |