SOMA Magazine SOMA Film and Music Issue Aug 15 | Page 80

Music

Jamie XX

Going Solo with In Colour
text by LiLy Moayeri

Jamie xx is notoriously quiet. Not shy or impolite or moody, as Attempting to reconnect with home, coupled with a romantipeople who meet him are quick to clarify, but slightly awkward. cized idea of going out, he immersed himself in British party
The 26-year-old Jamie Smith, who has been given the “Jamie xx” culture films like Human Traffic, 24 Hour Party People, and
nickname-turned-professional-moniker because of his inter- Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, all of which take place during a time
nationally acclaimed music group, The xx, speaks in a halting, Smith was too young to have experienced firsthand. It was the
mumbling fashion. Just when you think he’s done making his last of these that inspired, and from which a sample was used,
point, you realize he’s simply stopped talking for a bit and now on Smith’s stand-alone single, the softcore “All Under One Roof
he’s picking up what he was saying again. Smith’s reclusive dis- Raving,” the precursor to In Colour.
position is at odds with his job, as a music producer and remix
“Raving” is too strong of a word to use when describing
artist, which requires him being thrust into all manner of situa- Smith’s compositions. If anything, In Colour is melancholic.
tions, expected to interact with fans, peers, and executives, and Deceptively minimal, the album summons ghosts of dance
to talk about himself and his music.
floors past, interpreting their vibe and sound with an introverted
In the space of six years Smith has released two albums with approach. “It’s kind of what you do every time you go out raving:
The xx. The first was the eponymous winner of the Mercury Prize try and recreate when you had a great time in a club,” says Smith.
and its follow-up, Coexist; a reinvention of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m “It doesn’t always happen.”
Smith’s carefully selected samples, such as the Persuasions
New Here under the title, We’re New Here. His solo debut, In Colour
was released in June. The creation of In Colour, and in its pro- on “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” featuring Young
motion, have been the first time Smith has been entirely on his Thug and Popcaan, clever re-imaginations of melody lines, like
own. After his time working with Drake, Adele, and Alicia Keys Orbital’s “Belfast” on album opener, “Gosh,” and effective
as the electronic music producer/remixer du jour, and dealing reworkings like Freeez’s “I.O.U.” on album closer, “Girl,” give
with pop world requirements, only having himself to contend In Colour’s downbeat, nocturnal nature a personal feel.
“Every song on the album has its own color, which represents
with is a welcome relief.
“I’ve always had freedom to do whatever I wanted—other the co ܈[