Jamie XX (aka Jamie Smith) started his musical career after leaving Elliott School (the same school as notable alumni Hot Chip, Four Tet, Burial and The Maccabees) joining The XX with his old schoolmates. Even though none of The XX amazing debut (XX, 2009) singles were a hit, it went on to win the 2010 Mercury Prize – and in my opinion, it was one of those albums that was perfect for its time and showed the direction music was heading in. Jamie went on to do notable remixes including a brilliant Florence And The Machine rework as his Jamie XX alias, before releasing the critically acclaimed remix album by Gil Scott-Heron called We’re New Here (2010) which put the American Soul legend’s final album in a new light. Between then and now Jamie has had a string of remix releases for Radiohead and Adele amongst others as well as producing tracks for the likes of Drakes and Alicia Keys, cementing himself as a much sought after artist.
 

In the middle of 2014 we were treated to a wonderful teaser of what to expect on his new album with the release of double A-Side Girl / Sleep Sound. ‘Girl’ is the final track on In Colour and is a lovely ending – its effortless floaty beats scream of a glaring sun on the final day of a festival, holding a nostalgic vibe which you don’t want to finish. ‘Sleep Sound’ is my favourite track on the album – beginning with the sounds of Steelpan drums which then giggle across the House tempo 2 Step beat, with echoing vocals making sure its rolling melody keeps hitting its ethereal heights. It's no wonder that the music world was bubbling in anticipation for In Colour.
 

The album starts with ‘Gosh’, a Jungle DnB track slowed down to give it a really gritty feel. Its intensity builds nicely into an otherworldly feel that sets up the listener nicely for the next track ‘Sleeping Sounds’. The Steelpan drums have become a staple part of Jamie XX’s sound, featuring on ‘Obvs’ which showcases his undeniably excellent production. This leads into the lush sounds of the short ‘Just Saying’ that acts as an interlude before ‘Stranger In A Room’ which features the arguably dull vocals of Oliver Sim from The XX. Romy Madley-Croft (of The XX) also features vocally on what could be one of the sounds of the summer, the fantastic ‘Loud Places’ which uses a sample of Idris Muhamad’s ‘Could Heaven Ever Be Like This’ and the spacey but easily forgettable ‘Seesaw’. Surprising to me was the inclusion of ‘I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)’, which features America’s Young Thug and Jamaica’s Popcaan. As a friend said to me about this song, “I can imagine this on Radio 1’s Chart Show” – not a sound I would associate with Jamie XX but more a Kanye West album, and it kind of sticks out because of it. Back to the electronic sounds of ‘The Rest Is Noise’ which is more like Orbital mixed with an empty Diplo or Calvin Harris track with Jamie XX/The XX staple minimal sound. The different ideas that come through in Jamie XX’s debut are reflected in the album cover (which he designed himself), a complete spectrum of colour. Whereas The XX album covers were suitably monochrome, echoing their one dimensional sound (in the nicest way), In Colour has the freedom to delve into the spectrum that is dance music.
 

Having partly recorded some of the tracks before the release of We’re New Here, some of the music falls into the category of “nothing new” when I was expecting an album that really pushed the musical barriers into a less safe territory which he had done countless times before. Saying that, the 26 year old has progressed phenomenally as a musician in his short career so far, and continually looks for new projects that takes him out of his comfort zone (with a forthcoming ballet score, Tree of Codes). Overall, this album is a little disappointing as I was hoping for more, but if I take away my preconceptions then it is a very pleasant and tidy album which will appease the masses by reintroducing past electronic ideas in Jamie’s extremely likeable stylings. As someone mentioned to me, “Jamie XX is the Sam Smith of electronic music. He may not be liked by the hard-core music fan, but that doesn’t mean he makes unacceptable music”.