While popular in Europe, electronic soul artist Jamie Lidell appeared on America's radar when Target began using his track “A Little Bit More” in its commercials. Consequently his 2005 album Multiply gained momentum, intriguing with its unique blend of electronica, blues, and gritty soul. After finding success as a DJ and techno artist in the 90s, Lidell seemed to find his niche in the neo-soul category. His next effort, 2008s Jim, built upon Multiply's success and showed his maturity and sophistication. Amazingly, Jim stalled in America, peaking at number 183 in the Billboard 200. Its tepid chart performance truly astounds, as Jim proved to be a tour de force of old-fashioned R&B mixed with modern day technology, and is well worth a listen.
Co-produced with Multiply's Mocky, Jim starts out strong with “Another Day,” which sounds as if it could have been recorded by Sam and Dave in the 1960s. The charming, upbeat track's hand clap-accented beat immediately draws the listener, with Lidell's “Another day/Another way/For me to open up to you” chorus underscoring the optimism of the lyrics. “Wait for Me” follows in much the same vein, its Motown-reminiscent strong beat reminiscent of Raphael Saadiq's 2008 effort The Way I See It (see my previous review of Saadiq). While “Out of My System” contains a catchy chorus and retains that neo-soul vibe, the bridge's sound gives a hint of Lidell's techno background. Still, technology never detracts from the track, with its percussion and swirling sound effects bringing the song to an effective crescendo.
While Lidell tends toward uptempo tracks, he can handle delicate ballads as well. He croons on the Otis Redding-like “All I Wanna Do,” vocally dramatizing the words as if he has lived them. This nuanced performance best exemplifies his progression from Multiply's heavily techno-enriched tone. “Green Light” (not to be confused with John Legend's 2008 hit of the same name), a nod to Al Green-like 70s soul, contains an electronic beat, but not in an intrusive way. The background vocalists, which include Nikka Costa and Peaches (yes, that often racy techno artist Peaches), particularly add to the retro sound.
Article comments