Jamie XX’s debut solo album follows the excellent Gil Scott Heron collaboration We’re Not Here which was one of 2011’s best albums. Like the first The XX album, it was innovative and a breath of fresh air. There’s no doubt that Jamie XX is a skilled producer and he’s been responsible for many great things on many tracks and remixes, but this album is something of a let down. Instead of building on his past works, he treads water and, ultimately, ends up going backwards, producing an album that is, in the main unmemorable and fairly bland.
Opener Gosh starts the album off as it goes on. Built around fairly nondescript beats and samples it ambles around until a pretty nice Kraftwerk like synth line and New Order-esque bass take it to an altogether more acceptable level. Bar those points, the song is stuck in a sonic mud that it doesn’t escape from and that’s a trend that’s all too prevalent throughout In Colour. Sleep Sound comes next and it’s a track that starts well but never actually kicks on. It feels unfinished really. Romy from The XX makes an appearance on Seesaw and it’s welcome as her presence seems to inspire Jamie XX, producing a highlight of the album. All that good work is outdone however on the dreadful Obvs which overuses Jamie XX’s already overused steel drum preset and at one point threatens to turn into Black’s Wonderful Life. To be honest though, if it actually did turn into that track, we’d be onto a winner as it at least has a memorable chorus. Just Saying comes next and at only 1 minute 23 seconds long it works. It sounds like an idea for a track that is yet to be fully developed or something you’d find on Soundcloud but that’s ok because it’s short enough to offer signs of what it could turn into. Many of this album’s other tracks are 3 times the length of this and suffer from that.
Stranger In A Room features Oliver Sim from The XX and, like Seesaw featuring Romy, it’s a standout. It has the atmosphere of The XX and the whole production sounds far more confident than the tracks here that Jamie XX works on himself. It makes you wonder why the tracks featuring his bandmates weren’t left for The XX instead of being left here surrounded by mediocre works. Hold Tight comes next, reverting to type really; samples float in and out, bland beats dominate and the minute the track ends you’ve forgotten it already. Romy’s second appearance comes on Loud Places, a more upbeat effort but one that doesn’t match the high of Seesaw. Oddly, the backing vocals sound like The Christians which is a very odd thing.
Jamie XX – I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) Feat. Young Thug and Pocaan on MUZU.TV.
The album reaches a staggering low point next with the simply dreadful I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) featuring Young Thug and Popcaan. Imagine being stuck on a train behind two of the most irritating people you’ve ever heard who spend the whole journey chattering away whilst a third friend of theirs plays dreadful music too loud on his headphones. That is this song. I don’t think I’ve heard a more irritating track in my life. I nearly stamped on my IPod to make it stop. After that then, it’s hard for the album to recover. The last two tracks, The Rest Is Noise and Girl, are just like the other non XX featuring tracks; bland, unmemorable and just disappointing.
Overall then, disappointing is the watchword here. I’m not entirely sure who this album is aimed at really. People who buy one album a year of music they thing is “edgy”? I really don’t know. It’s safe, middle of the road, bland, quasi housey music that never goes anywhere and leaves you feeling sort of annoyed really. Not one I’ll be listening to again.
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