In Waves
A vibrant, star-studded celebration of club culture that balances peak-time festival euphoria with the bittersweet intimacy of the morning after.
A vibrant, star-studded celebration of club culture that balances peak-time festival euphoria with the bittersweet intimacy of the morning after.
Euphoric expansion
Sweat-slicked basslines and the smell of spilled beer dissolve into quiet, rain-wet streets. This music captures the exact transition from a crowded, strobe-lit dancefloor to the solitary cab ride home. You feel the physical ache of dancing for hours, wrapped in warm, looping vocal samples that keep the night alive.
Instead of leaving voices in their natural state, the record slices and pitches its processed vocals to act as kinetic, stuttering instruments that mimic the disorienting rush of a crowded club.
Returning after nearly a decade, the producer was widely embraced for delivering a joyous, dancefloor-focused record that beautifully captures the communal healing and emotional catharsis of club music. Critics broadly admired this follow-up as a deeply rewarding and electrifying evolution of his artistry, celebrating its ability to offer solace and movement in equal measure.
“Nearly a decade after his debut, Jamie xx returns with a long-awaited sophomore LP that stylishly swells and retreats with danceable beats and moody romanticism”Read review
“Nine years on and in a very different world, the producer rises to the challenge of following up his masterful debut, ‘In Colour’”Read review
“It’s music that can’t help but hold on just a little too tight to ennui and cynicism, expressing the future as a respite from the now in place of extending a flexible present”Read review
“The xx man’s first solo album in nine years arrives straight from the dancefloor, a thrilling celebration of a night out dancing”Read review
“Filled with guest stars from his xx bandmates to Robyn, this long-gestating second solo album picks up where In Colour left off, and deepens its dancefloor devotion”Read review
“While it’s unlikely to have the same impact as In Colour, as the next step in the development of an eternally unpredictable artist, it’s a rewarding and frequently electrifying listen”Read review
“In another artist’s hands, lines like “All we gotta do is treat each other right” would come off as naive and reductive. With Jamie xx, they’re testaments to life”Read review
“For those seeking solace, joy, or pure emotional catharsis, Jamie xx has delivered a masterpiece that will linger long after the last beat fades”Read review
“Ten years after his big solo debut, the UK producer goes even bigger for a well-polished record animated by the ecstatic and easy pleasures of the dancefloor”Read review
“In Waves sounds like the music Jamie xx needed to make at this point in his career - its love letter to the communal healing power of dance music is often more purposeful, and more satisfying, than his instant-classic debut”Read review
“Nearly a decade on, Jamie xx proves he still has the X factor”Read review
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