In Waves

by Jamie xx

I'm pleasantly surprised at how this turned out — I was feeling pretty skeptical with the singles that he released leading up to the full album... but it pulled together really nicely.

The Apple Music review of this album nails one thing... Jamie is definitely chasing the club trends with this album. It doesn't feel as monumental as In Colour. It really doesn't define any unique space, but fits nicely in with the other club kiddies. Lots of great tunes that are easy to dance too, heavy with rinsed vocal features.

Apple's review mentioned something about how this was inspired by 'dreams of how it would feel to play big tunes for audiences again' after the COVID lockdowns, which feels a bit of a cop-out considering we've been back in the club and at festivals for 2-3 years already. The world's moving fast again Jamie!! Keep up!

The whole album holds together and flows well until you get to All You Children; this is a fun track, but feels plopped in and the main vocal sample feels out of place (even if it's the titular phrase). The album recovers quickly with Falling Together, but then just ends. Almost feels unfinished, just given how technically proficient and intentional Jamie's music usually is. /shrug