Hi, everyone. Anthony Wavestano here, the Internet's wavy-est music nerd. It's time for a review of the new Jamie xx album, In Waves.

Yeah. Here we have the new album from UK-based producer, electronic music artist DJ, Jamie xx, or James Thomas Smith, who originally broke onto the music scene as one-fourth of The xx, who at the time of their big break in the late 2000s were like the biggest, hottest indie and pop act to come out of the UK in a minute.

But even as the band was in demand, Jamie didn't hesitate to lean into his viability as a solo artist, and many forget the very interesting move he made going in that direction early on, a remix album of songs from the final Gil Scott-Heron album, I'm New Here. Then several years later, we would get Jamie's first real totally solo outing, that would be the album In Color, which at this point was released almost 10 years ago.

At the time of that record's release, it contained some of the most beautiful pop and electronic music fusions of that year, not to mention an absolutely transcendental Young Thug crossover that I am very blessed to live in the same timeline as. In Color was an incredibly choppy but varied and unique album. So considering that and the star-studded array of singles that led up to the release of this new album, I honestly didn't really know what to expect from it.

I mean, clearly, Jamie sees some line or continuum flowing throughout all or much of his work. If he didn't, I don't think he would go through the trouble of making so much of the album and single art line up in the way that it does. Now we're moving from being in color to being in waves. The waves. We're waving now.

What does it mean to be in as opposed to in colors? The answer to that is probably more abstract than concrete when it comes to the conscious vision Jamie had going into this record. But what is for sure is that this new album is very much a different experience from its predecessor, embracing more vibrant instrumentation as well as more straightforward grooves right out of the house playbook.

Jamie is also very much letting his features and samples take the spotlight a bit more on this record, too, but also trying to more messaging to the table with these tracks as well. Because while Jamie might not necessarily be in the business of writing lyrics, he is definitely trying to get something across on a lot of these songs.

Sometimes that message is about as on the nose as it can get, like on "Treat Each Other Right", which is obviously a song about approaching your fellow human beings with love and kindness. Sometimes the messages coming off these tracks are more contemplative and philosophical, like on "Breather", which feels like a combination of a dance floor odyssey, but also a guided meditation piece. There's also "All You Children, which very much tries to rekindle this sense of youth full of hope and wonder. This track also brings an Avalanches feature, which I'm not too surprised about because it does feel like they are very much a clear point of reference when it comes to Jamie's approach to sampling on a few of these tracks, most notably "The Feeling I Get From You".

So needless to say on this record, Jamie's approach to crafting electronic dance tracks is still pretty left of center, even if some of the grooves on these tracks seem to be a bit more rooted in the classics. Now, I will say sometimes on this LP, I do think conceptually Jamie does go a little bit too deep into the weeds to the point where he loses me. He spends more time romanticizing the dance floor and conceptualizing it than he does actually feeding it, which is most definitely the case for the closing track, "Falling Together". And look, for electronic music producers, I think there's most definitely room for exactly this thing, but this track is no Daft Punk "Giorgio", I'll say that.

In the tracklist, there's also a handful of less impactful cuts and moments that feel like a liminal space between the album's key anthems, like "The Feeling I Get From You" that I mentioned earlier, as well as "Still Summer", or even to an extent "Daffodil" featuring Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, as well as Panda Bear of Animal Collective fame, which does present an interesting sonic concept between all the interplay with all of the coalescing and jumbled vocal samples and guest contributions. The whole track feels like I'm having a weird dream, and there are multiple voices trying to talk to me at once over a super relaxed bass line. And while the vibes are most certainly there, the whole track doesn't really do much for me other than lull me into a chill sense of indifference.

Beyond these tracks, though, what are the more consequential moments on the album? Well, there's "Treat Each Other Right", which I mentioned earlier, which is a peppy visceral UK bass cut with some killer soul samples. I love the multiple weird breaks where it just goes straight into this sample of an entire song, chipmunked, right before it barrels back into this blissful combination of future garage and house. The whole track makes a stellar use of tension, and effect in space and is everything electronic dance music should be.

There's also "Baddy on the Floor", which has more of an old-school garage house, a funky type of flair with its bright horn sections and nimble piano chord progressions. The choppy vocal samples add to a lot of the various switch-ups on the track, too. Overall, this track is just irresistible fun. It makes me want to be the "Baddy on the Floor", and it could potentially be the soundtrack to the most memorable club night of your life. I think Jamie is scratching a similar itch as well on the track "Life", featuring Swedish dance pop icon Robyn, where we do have a similar instrumental formula going between the horns, the bouncy bass line, all the tension building. But Robyn's vocals are enough to keep this tried and true recipe fresh.

Then there's "Breather". Breather, more like banger. Honestly, this track sounds like a weird electronic guerrilla's B-side, and it develops into quite the journey with all of these orchestral bits, as well as, like I said earlier, that spoken word guided meditation element that gives way to this awesome micro house-esque second half that is giving big Four Tet vibes.

Then "All You Children" is another highlight for me, which I think is one of the best examples in terms of striking a balance between communicating the messages Jamie clearly wants to get across on this record, but still giving us something that functions as a piece of music that you could put on the dance floor and it would get people moving. It's thoughtful, but also not too heady or too much of a headphone listen.

And before I finish this review off, I probably should mention the track "Waited All Night", which, of course, features vocals from fellow The xx members, Oliver Sim and Romy. Yeah, the band is really back together on this one. But the result of this track pretty much sounds like if some random super low-key DJ from the UK did a remix of an xx song. And just like a lot of the xx's music, the tune is not really sticking with me. The vocals come across as just too I do think some of the jittery vocal sample chops and rhythmic switch-ups in the second half are very cool. That, at the very least, is interesting. But those musical and vocal elements that just remind me of the xx's typical vibe, I just don't get a whole lot from. Though I imagine for some long time fans, the nostalgia factor on this track is just going to be too awesome to ignore, and you're going to love this track regardless.

Even if this record for Jamie, just like his last one, is a tad all over the place and inconsistent. It's still a very colorful and creative record with a lot of very notable highlights, really some of the best and most fun and quirky dance tracks of the year, and ones that I can see myself continuing to spin as 2024 comes to a close, which is why I'm feeling a decent seven on this record.

What would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best. What should I review next?

Anthony Fantano. Jamie xx. Forever.