Back catalogue: House

Review: A full nine years on from the generation-defining smash success that was In Colour, comes In Waves, the upcoming second studio album by former indie band heartthrob come electronic-music matinee idol, Jamie xx. We don't imagine that the success of In Colour is easy to top, so we don't blame Jamie for waiting almost a full decade to follow it up. That said, the lead singles on this one do a pretty good job of marking the album's shift away from the summer-jammy and/or sentimental electronica ballad focus of In Colour; 'Baddie On The Floor' and 'Life' verge on French house and future house in turn, and suggest something of a shift in interest for xx towards the faster ends of things. Jamie xx's intended aim, in releasing label Young's words, was to recreate the thrilling volatility of an 'almost mystical' night out, "one where you return home in the cigarette ash dawn, the specifics of the last eight hours already blurring, but aware that these feelings will remain a crystalline memory." We eagerly await the ensuing, full-length story of heartbreak and introspection promised by the remaining tracks.

Review: Jamie xx's long-awaited new album, In Waves, marks the next chapter in the career of one of the most sought-after producers of his generation. With In Waves, Jamie captures the emotional crescendos and thrilling volatility of a mystical night out. As you return home in the cigarette ash dawn, the specifics of the last eight hours blur, but the feelings remain a crystalline memory. In Waves is a melancholy paradise of bliss, heartbreak, and introspection. It tells the story of a journey where you merge into the divine pulse of shadows, light, and dance floor rhythms. It's a strobe light epiphany about the limitless possibilities and spiritual capacities of humanity. Nine years after his debut solo masterpiece, In Colour, the London producer has not only surpassed the heights of its predecessor but has also rendered all supernatural adjectives and analogies understated. Jamie xx's reputation for creating deeply evocative and transformative music is all found here, setting a new standard for electronic production.

Review: In Waves is Jamie xx's second full-length solo album, and the patented thematic follow-up to 2015's In Colour. The former album marked the height of a certain formative summer in dance music history, in which the UK at large opened its eyes to the potent admixture of its various musical heritages and seemed to meld them into one (perhaps this was best represented by Jamie's membership of a chart-topping indie band, and nonetheless simultaneous indulgence of solo beatcraft and DJing, which saw to a technicolour crock of collaborations we never thought possible, such as with Gil Scott-Heron and Young Thug). In Waves, however, posits the question of where we might've gone since. Channelling as ever Jamie's essential "soft-rounded" drums and clean, yet sample-heavy embellishments sifted from various classic soul and funk records, In Waves nonetheless sacrifices the sentimental ballad-dirges heard on In Colour for a more club-bound portrayal of a comparatively disinhibited night out. Livelier than In Colour, we're transported right on back to a certain kind of dancefloor, one that we'd felt remiss of for almost a good half of the decade in between the two albums.