Jamie xx - Loud Places

The wait for a Jamie xx full-length has been excruciating. Surprise unveilings on friends’ radio residencies have only amped up the expectation, the sparsity of last year’s ‘Girl’ proving little more than a drop of water on a sandy, parched tongue. While that came tag-teamed with the scratchy fidgeting of ode-to-clubs anthem ‘All Under One Roof Raving’, it’s been an uncomfortable few months silence since. Thankfully, as ‘In Colour’ creeps ever closer, it looks set to quench every dry lip in the house; ‘Loud Places’ is a nourishing example of Jamie xx’s finesse.

Deconstructed and reconstructed around a gospel choir sample, it’s that sense of collective elation that threads throughout. His xx band mate Romy may provide the tender vocal at the track’s beginning - and in doing so tilt the vibe back towards the ‘day job’ - but Jamie soon shifts things upwards, handclap snares and skipping basslines dragging ‘Loud Places’ towards the dancefloor. It’s that choir which defines the track though - an ever-swelling euphoria, ‘Loud Places’ is built for such soul-defining moments of musical unity, marking ‘In Colour’ out as a potentially summer-defining record, and Jamie xx a potentially genre-defining musician.