New Faces

I first read about British singer Jamie Lidell in the latest issue of Uncut magazine which described him as "a nu soul singer who can morph from Otis Redding or Sam Cooke into Stevie Wonder and then Prince." Normally I'd write off such stuff as journalistic hyperbole but having checked out his new album "Multiply" I have to say they weren't just talking bollocks. This is seriously good shit and deserves to sell by the shed load. You can hear samples of the whole album at Warp Records.

The Prince comparison is obvious on the single "When I Come Back Around" which is a glittery and glitchy funk number the Purple One would be proud of. Like Prince, Lidell can turn his hand to a lot of styles and though he does the classic retro-soul sound very well his tendency is to push the envelope a little. He was previously in avant-electro-funk act Super_Collider and he tweaks and messes with his songs by feeding them through a filter of skronky electronics and his own loopy personality (check out the video for "The City Don't Like You.") Like that other great British Blue-Eyed Soulster Lewis Taylor, Lidell has his own take on R&B that makes him far more interesting than pastiche merchants like Jamiroquai.

EDIT: I just noticed that Ear Fuzz posted "When I Come Back Around" last week, so here's the title track of the album instead. One of the more conventional numbers, but It's a beaut.

[Download]
When I Come Back Around - Jamie Lidell
Multiply - Jamie Lidell

(PS: I'm off back to England tomorrow so there'll be nothing new here until next week)