Rating Score
In Colour (2015) 7

Overview

Jamie XX is a London-based English produced and one-third of The XX.

In Colour

In his debut album, the most essential part of the XX borrows from many places, and proudly wears his influences. The most notorious influence is Burial, the now-legend underground electronic producer and de facto founder of “old school” dubstep (to somehow distinguish it from what, say, Skrillex is doing nowadays). But he also borrows from DJ Shadow’s chopping and scratching technique (namely in the skewed, looping vocal samples he uses), and to a lesser extent, from R&B (the Young Thugg feature). All these elements, when combined, give birth to an amalgamation of textures that is characteristic of 2010s London: trip-hoppy, nocturnal, urban beats.

Jamie’s shinning moments can be found in his skills as a producer. Sleep Sound is a lowkey, quasi-ambient song, reminiscent of the brighter moments of Burial’s Untrue; Gosh and Obvs are steel pan-heavy; Hold Tight is immediate: it constructs a feeling of urgency.

However, it is in the cast of features where In Colour falls apart. Choosing to feature the other two thirds of The XX brought about some pleasant moments, such as Romy’s (“surprisingly” lowkey) singing in Loud Places; however, it also backfired. Oliver’s feature in Stranger in a Room is horrendously mixed, and makes the song momentum fall apart. Young Thugg’s feature is an overproduced, very catchy hip hop song, which comes with all the tropes of a hip hop song, but feels misplaced in an album that tries to control so tightly its use of textures.

Ultimately, In Colour is the epitome of what the underground electronic scenario has become with the arrival of the 2010s: aesthetic over substance. Colorfully produced, brightly mixed, and minimalistic to the core (sounds similar to what The XX are doing?).