An English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, James Righton first gained notice in the late 2000s as the keyboardist and vocalist for the London "new-rave" outfit Klaxons. His public profile increased in the 2010s upon marrying popular English actress Keira Knightly. When Klaxons disbanded in 2015 after issuing three trendsetting LPs, he formed the like-minded but more refined Shock Machine, who issued their eponymous debut in 2017. Three years later, Righton released his solo debut, the '70s pop-inspired Performer.

A native of Stratford-Upon-Avon, Righton formed Klaxons alongside Jamie Reynolds and Simon Taylor-Davis in 2005. Originally operating under the moniker Klaxons (Not Centaurs), which was  inspired by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's futurism text The Futurist Manifesto, they adopted the shortened Klaxons name in 2007, the same year they issued their first single, "Gravity's Rainbow." Distilling the experience of late-'80s rave music using standard rock & roll instrumentation, the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future, to much critical acclaim, even taking home the year's much sought after Mercury Prize. The group's metallic 2010 psych- and dubstep-inspired sophomore effort, Surfing the Void, signaled a slight stylistic change from its predecessor, but still managed to chart in multiple countries. The band enlisted the help of James Murphy, Gorgon City, Chemical Brothers' Tom Rowland, and Erol Alkan to produce their third and final album, 2014's dancefloor-ready Love Frequency. Klaxons officially ceased operations the following year after a farewell tour.

In 2016 Righton started up a hazy electronic pop project called Shock Machine and issued the group's eponymous debut album in 2017. In 2020 he released his debut solo outing, The Performer, which looked to the smooth mid- to late-'70s emissions of Bryan Ferry, the Beach Boys, Nick Lowe, and Lee Hazlewood for inspiration. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

James Righton

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