Artist Spotlight: Jamie xx

Some artists shape a genre, others transcend it. Jamie xx has spent his career doing both. As a producer, DJ, and sonic architect, he’s taken the intimate melancholy of The xx and expanded it into something vast, something euphoric, something that feels like the soundtrack to a night that never quite ends. His ability to bridge club culture with deep emotion has made him one of the most influential electronic artists of his generation, and with the release of his latest album, In Waves, he proves once again why his sound continues to define the cutting edge.

From The xx to a Solo Visionary

Born James Thomas Smith in London in 1988, Jamie xx’s journey began with The xx, the band he co-founded alongside Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. Their debut album, xx (2009), was a game-changer: sparse, atmospheric, and intimate, it felt like a whispered secret in a world obsessed with maximalism. But while Romy and Oliver’s hushed vocals drew the most attention, it was Jamie’s production—his ghostly reverb, his cavernous drum patterns, his ability to create space in sound—that gave the music its signature weight.

His fascination with electronic music and production led him beyond the band. In 2011, he remixed Gil Scott-Heron’s final album, turning We’re New Here into something spectral and pulsing, a posthumous collaboration between generations. The album didn’t just earn him respect as a producer; it announced him as an artist with a vision of his own.

Carving a Singular Sound

Jamie xx’s solo career hit its peak with In Colour (2015), an album that merged UK garage, house, and trip-hop with an unmistakable sense of longing. Tracks like “Gosh” and “Loud Places” felt both intimate and massive, as if they belonged equally in headphones on a rainy night and blasting through festival speakers. The album’s biggest hit, “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times),” featuring Young Thug and Popcaan, showcased his ability to fuse genres effortlessly, pulling dance music into unexpected spaces.

His production style has always been defined by contrast—warmth and distance, nostalgia and forward momentum, euphoria and restraint. Unlike many of his electronic contemporaries, Jamie xx’s music is as much about the silence between beats as it is about the beats themselves. He builds anticipation, lets tracks breathe, and then delivers moments of catharsis that feel like an emotional release rather than just a drop.

In Waves: A Return to the Dancefloor

After years of sporadic releases and whispers of new material, Jamie xx’s return with In Waves in 2025 feels like the culmination of everything he’s explored before. Where In Colour was deeply introspective, In Waves leans into movement—it’s a love letter to club culture, a tribute to the communal joy of dancing, and a sonic map of where electronic music has been and where it’s going.

The album flows seamlessly, its title serving as both a structural theme and an emotional one. Tracks build gradually, layering percussion and synths in a way that mimics the ebb and flow of a night out. “All Night,” one of the standout tracks, blends UK garage with shimmering vocal loops, while “Mirage” feels like a dream sequence, evoking the neon haze of early-morning club exits.

There are collaborations, too—Romy’s voice returns on “Hold Tight,” a track that recalls their earliest work together but with a newfound urgency. The album also sees Jamie working with Kelela, whose vocals on “Falling Back” glide over a pulsing, deep-house rhythm, adding a sensual, hypnotic dimension to the record. And then there’s “Into the Ether,” an instrumental closer that feels like sunrise breaking over a city skyline—a moment of quiet, a breath before the next wave.

Jamie xx has never been one to chase trends. His music exists in a space of its own, always pulling from the past but never repeating it, always looking forward but never losing its emotional core. With In Waves, he once again proves that electronic music isn’t just about making people dance—it’s about making them feel something they didn’t know they needed.