Jamie xx In Colour

The last DJ/producer you’ll find at EDC this year is Jamie xx, and after a spin of the English wunderkind’s solo debut, you’ll realize what a square peg he’d be at any one of the fest’s stylistically ghettoized stages. It’s a testament to his anti-categorical aesthetic: a spare, dubby, ethereal breakbeat sound typically run through R&B and/or post-punk filters. It’s superbly crafted, if overtly nostalgic, especially to those with experience with 1990s British dance music. Opener “Gosh” recalls U.K. rave-era comedown music, its “Straight to Hell”-reminiscent keyboard melody notwithstanding. You can hear traces of Björk and early Sasha in the blissful “SeeSaw,” assisted by Jamie’s vocalist bandmate, Romy Madley Croft. The tense “Hold Tight” would’ve been at home on the Trainspotting soundtrack. And single-of-the-year candidate “Loud Places” employs the sort of choral sample found on so many pre-millennial BBC Radio 1 staples to both juxtapose Madley Croft’s subtle croon and represent the emotional peak of the night—and the album. A pandering foray into grime and ragga-pop, “I Know There’s Going to Be (Good Times)” follows and thwarts the flow, though it’s recovered somewhat by the intricate serotonin-dumper “The Rest Is Noise.” It’s a fascinating, moving journey enhanced by headphones and solitude. In Colour isn’t really festival fodder—it compels a proper silent disco.