Jamie xx's solo debut, “In Colour,” is at one moment jubilant and bright and at the very next melancholy and murky. Cerulean steel drums on the track "Obvs," for example, give way to the somber synths of “Just Saying," while elsewhere, the dark, lethal sounds of dubstep anticipate lighter, more salubrious sounds of chillwave on "Girl."
It is a testament to Jamie xx's skill as a producer that these various fluctuations in sound, mood and hue never feel disjointed. But then again, few familiar with his oeuvre — his work with The xx, his work as a DJ — will be surprised by the deft technique employed here. What may surprise some people, however, is the answer to the question, "But can I dance to it?"
The short answer is no. The longer answer is maybe. Jamie xx is a DJ. Thus, one expects his primary concern will be to encourage his listeners to dance. Oddly enough, this does not seem to be a priority of his debut, “In Colour.”
The question arises, then, as to whether this record could even be considered dance music, at all. Once again, the quick answer might be no. Yet, there is certainly good reason to answer in the affirmative. For instance, there is no doubt that “In Colour” features, at the very least, elements of dance. The mirthful opener "Gosh," for example, is suffused with the sounds of thudding bass, vocal sampling and grandiose synths one is accustomed to hearing on a standard dance track. The same can be said, too, of "SeeSaw," an ebullient track, whose drums seem to be pounding out the Morse code for "Dance! Dance! Go on and dance!”
So, will you dance? Probably not. Most likely, you'll drum your fingers on the nearest flat surface. You'll tap your toes or hammer your heel to the beat. You'll turn up the volume, perhaps. Push your earbuds in deeper. Ponder upon that sound — what is that sound? — buried in the dense sonic fabric of a track like "Hold Tight."
Soon enough, you'll finish the album — it is only about 40 minutes long — and realize “In Colour” is music made for headphones rather than for the playlist of a night club. However, does a lack of club accessibility disqualify the record as being dance music?
Ironically, the one song that seems to reference clubbing, "Stranger in a Room" — a track featuring Oliver Sim of The xx — is a good example of what makes “In Colour” largely incompatible with a club setting, yet worthy of dance music categorization. That is to say, with this track, as well as certain others, Jamie xx seems less interested in creating rhythms to dance to than he is in capturing the mood of a club-going individual.
"Stranger in a Room," a slow track with coruscating arpeggios, sonorous chords and brooding vocals, replicates the mood of the person for whom the club is a means of escape, a hideout in which he or she can act without fear of being noticed. In a club, "you’re just a stranger in a room," the chorus reminds us, reassures us.
With “In Colour” itself, we are reassured, if ever we had doubts, that dance music does not have to be club music, that it does not have to engender dance or physical movements but simply capture the mood those movements are predicated upon. Accomplishing this feat with precision, beauty and warmth, “In Colour” succeeds where it ought to have failed. It succeeds at being a pure dance record — even beyond that, it succeeds at being one of the best records released so far this year.
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