Bleep

Visionary Warp producer and singer Jamie Lidell provided another essential collection on this self-titled full length, which followed on from 2010’s ‘Compass’. Over eleven tight and muscular cuts, Lidell further explores the highly charged soul-pop sound that he’s made his own, with mechanical and human elements working in perfect synergy.

‘You Naked’ bottles up a funky lust with real slickness, with a taut slap bass and ticking cowbells framing a full-bodied vocal to overpowering effect, while ‘You Know My Name’ opens with a huge rave breakdown which relaxes into a Prince-esque strut. There are more introverted slow burners too, with ‘Don’t You Love Me’ nailing a crooning soul ballad and adding unexpected bursts of dissonant brass and glockenspiel, and ‘why_ya_why’ constructing more of a sonic assault on top of a downtempo groove and sultry jazz trumpet.

Production prowess aside, it is still Lidell’s strident vocal delivery throughout which gives the work its substantial bite. On ‘What A Shame’ Lidell’s tone is sharp enough to cut through a fog of noise, glittering space-age synths and huge dubstep beats, while he channels Michael Jackson on ‘In Your Mind’ with a physical delivery backed by a vocoded choir of his own samples.