Pleased to Meet You is the ninth studio album by English rock band James, released on 2 July 2001.

"Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" was released as a single in late June, followed a week later by Pleased to Meet You on 2 July through Mercury Records.

Pleased to Meet You reached number 11 on the UK album chart, and was certified silver by the BPI.

Vocalist Tim Booth left the band after their December UK tour; the final show of which was released as the Getting Away with It...Live live/video album in early 2002.

[1] In March 2000, the band revealed they had been writing new material and planned to record later in the year, with the aim of releasing an album in January 2001.

[7] Inspired by playing the new songs live, the band decided to gather in a circle and record live-in-the-studio[8] at Ridge Farm Studios in Capel, Surrey with engineer Gary Langan.

[7] Eno likened the process to when artists make their debut record: "they're full of enthusiasm and excitement and they know what they're doing and it's a pleasure.

[16] He added that the album had an underlying theme of distaste for "habits, addictions, [and] impulses that we can't control.

[12] "Space" begins as a Radiohead-esque track with an electro intro before shifting into chorus sections in the vein of Simple Minds.

He edited the track; after giving Booth a copy, he re-did the vocal take, resulting in the final version.

[20] "English Beefcake" stars a man who ends relationships, while being hesitant in causing pain as a result of them.

[14][23] "Fine" is a percussion-led song that is followed by "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)", a slow-building indie rock track with a psychedelic bridge section.

[25] A year after its release, it occurred to Booth that the song was about his son, whose middle name was Daniel, and his goddaughter Grace.

[31] The song's music video was directed by Gordon Main, Rob Leggatt, and Simon Earith.

[36] On 6 September, the band announced their departure from Mercury[36] after completing their six-album contract, though they planned to release a compilation and reissue their back catalogue in the future through the label.

[38] At the end of November, the band played a few shows in Spain and Portugal,[36] leading up to a UK tour in December.

[33] Ben Folds was initially scheduled to support the band for their UK stint, but was replaced by Turin Brakes.

[43] "Scratchcard" and "I Thought You Were", outtakes from the album's sessions, were included on the career-spanning box set The Gathering Sound (2012), alongside the music video for "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)".

"[52] Dotmusic writer Dave Jennings wasn't fond of the band leaving pop; "it's just unfortunate that their chosen alternative often seems to be stadium rock.

"[20] In a review for The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan wrote that the band "continue their run of mini-symphonies by and for men who don't cringe at terms such as 'birthing partner'.

[26] All tracks written by Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies, Mark Hunter, David Baynton-Power.