British DJ and indie pop band The xx's member, Jamie xx released his sophomore album “In Waves” on September 20, 2024 via Young.
It is his first album in nine years since the 2015 debut album “In Colour”.
The album comprises 12 songs (deluxe edition 17 songs), featuring guest appearances from Romy, Oliver Sim, Honey Dijon, Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, Panda Bear, Robyn, the Avalanches, and Oona Doherty.
Produced by Jamie xx, The Avalanches, Honey Dijon, Rodaidh McDona, and ldLuke Solomon.
Jamie xx said of the album, “I am so unbelievably happy. It's been a while and a lot has happened in that time. Ups and downs, growing up, figuring stuff out and then forgetting it all many times over. Life changing events and world changing events. These waves that we have all experienced together and alone. I wanted to make something fun, joyful and introspective all at once. The best moments on a dance floor are usually that for me.”
The album was inspired by his experience isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jamie xx said of why it took him so long to release the album, “I mean, I definitely do feel the pressure all the time. But I think I started to really enjoy the process of making music again after lockdown. I used to feel the pressure. Before that, like, because there was always something to do. I never had a moment to stop. think one of the reasons why this album took so long was because I started to just enjoy the process and I kind of almost didn't want to finish it because I was having so much fun.”
He shared on social media, “I can't quite believe it, I spent every flicker of energy I had finishing this record. I am soo psyched for people to hear it in full. Thank you so much to all of you for sticking with me after all this time, I am immensely grateful for this day and everyone who has helped me along the way.”
Jamie xx explained track-by-track for the album.
“Wanna” via Stereogum “I spent a long time trying to tracklist this album to make it feel like an album, basically. It's still very important to me that albums feel like albums, especially in this time of streaming and stuff. I always put that one in the middle of all my tracklists when I was trying to work it out. And then I played the album to Kieran Hebden, Four Tet. He told me, basically, to flip it all around — what is the first half used to be the second half. That was a great piece of advice. That was a big part of the puzzle in how to make the album work.”
“Treat Each Other Right” via Stereogum
“It was one of the last things that I made for the album. I was in a “fuck it” headspace. I wanted to make something that was really fun for me to make and make it kind of erratic with tempo changes. It came about quite quickly, which doesn't happen that often. I was trying loads of things and not thinking too much about it because I was at the end of the album process and I thought one last go at something could make the album better. I was listening to a lot of current producers that, especially out of the UK and a bit in Europe, are doing similar stuff—fast and break beaty and also kind of quite intense with lots of little drops and changes throughout rather than a traditional structure, which I really liked. And I have been playing a lot of that sort of stuff in my DJ sets, so it was kind of my attempt at doing that and being inspired by the younger generation.”
“Waited All Night” featuring Oliver Sim & Romy Jamie xx: “Thank you to my two best friends and musical siblings, Oliver and Romy. It's wonderful to have the gang back together, working in new ways, working out new lives; I wouldn't be here without them.”
Romy and Oliver Sim: “We've loved collaborating on our recent solo projects, but it's been a while since the three of us came together on one track. We're so pleased that this was the place we met up again. Proud to play a small part in this long awaited, brilliant album. We're your biggest fans, Jamie!”
“Baddy on the Floor” featuring Honey Dijon “Quite a while, I guess it started in lockdown. I was making music in LA. And Honey asked me to make something for her album and it kind of spurred on our new like process of creation and this is one of the bits of music that came up.
I've had quite a lot of this music that putting a lot about festivals over the last couple of years. And now it's finally coming out and the first thing so I'm pretty excited.”
This track is based around a sample and I guess it's kind of my forte, I guess I'm pretty good at chopping up samples because how I started and it's just fun for me.”
“Dafodil” featuring John Glacier, Kelsey Lu and Panda Bear Jamie xx: “'Dafodil' was one of the first pieces of music that I made for this album, it was actually the song that made me realise I could finally make another album.”
Kelsey Lu: “'Dafodil.' A fun ride into a cute sexy hazy night in London shared with my dear friend Jamie xx. Memories of my first London summer I'll cherish forever that are now encapsulated for us all to be in ecstasy together.”
“Still Summer” via Stereogum
“I always loved 'Still Summer.' It was a bunch of mistakes that all worked really well. I really wanted it to be on the album, but I couldn't find a place for it for a long time. I think some of this album is more maximal than stuff I've done before. So it was about finding the right place for this track because it does feel like a bit of a calmer, maybe not calmer, but a bit more spacious moment.
That track had loads of different names and it's one of the last ones I came up with. I wanted it to be a reference to the summer during the pandemic, which was very still and also a reference to hanging on to summer for as long as you can.”
“Life” with & Robyn Jamie xx: “I made this track pretty fast (for me) and I loved it from day one. When I first heard Robyn's vocal it was at 6am after finishing playing at Pacha in Ibiza, it was the perfect moment. Robyn and I have spent time working together and hanging out for some years now, it's always a joy and always inspiring, I'm so glad and grateful that she is a part of In Waves. Thank you Robyn for bringing this track to life!”
Robyn: “I just want to see how 'Life' gets people dancing this summer. I can't wait for that. Jamie is such a brilliant creator, I'm excited to be part of his album.”
“The Feeling I Get From You” via Stereogum
“It was towards the end-ish of making the album. I felt like I wanted to put something more emotional in there. I was still missing a few bits that are now on the album. But I didn't want the album to be emotionless or just all fun. I was driving back from a surf and I heard the original sample. There's this new AI software that's come out recently that can basically take the stems apart from a piece of music without having the stamps, which is pretty revolutionary. It allowed me to take vocals off of it without having access to any of the parts to the song. It was me experimenting with that new software and wanting to make something more emotional and also wanting to play the piano which I'd been doing a lot recently because I just bought a new piano in LA.”
“Breather” via Stereogum
“There's loads actually. The sample from 'Breather' kind of started out as a joke. It was the yoga video that I was doing in lockdown every day to stay sane. And I thought that like the things that she was saying, could be used in the exact opposite scenario — being high in a club, and doing all the things that make your body feel worse in the long term, but good in the short term. I quite liked that juxtaposition. And so I ended up sampling that yoga video, and that's what the speaking is in the middle of 'Breather.'”
“All You Children” featuring The Avalanches “The Avalanches have always been an inspiration for me. Their sample technique and how they piece together different sounds is incredible, and collaborating on a track with them has showed me new ways of making music.”
“Every Single Weekend (Interlude)” via Stereogum
“I spend a lot of time when I'm in clubs with the voice memo record button on just to pick up noise that I can weave into tracks to give some extra life, even if it's super low down in the mix. That also helps tie the sonics of the record together. That little bit at the end of the song, one of my best friends Laura, saying, 'This isn't the end.' She thought it was the last track of the night and then there was another hour to go when we were out raving at something in London. I liked that it could also be deeper than that. Especially at the end of that piece of music, which is quite dreamy.”
“Falling Together” featuring Oona Doherty via Stereogum
“I went to her show in London a long time ago. It was one of the best things I'd seen in a long time. I got in touch and she made a video for me during lockdown for 'Idontknow' and then I worked with her on her contemporary dance piece that's now on tour. She's a really inspiring person to talk to, has so much energy, and is super honest and moves incredibly. So it was really nice to be able to work with her on that and get on the phone with her and have these nice conversations. But I also loved listening to her voice and she sent me this 25-minute-long voice note which was sort of the demo for the piece of music that I was making for her contemporary dance piece but that voice note is what I ended up chopping up and turning into the spoken word thing on 'Falling Together.'”
