Jamie xx’s In Waves brings rave nostalgia and genre‑defying emotion
Jamie xx’s In Waves brings rave nostalgia and genre‑defying emotion. His second solo album leans into texture and atmosphere, weaving the past and future of club culture into one immersive ride. Pulling from broken beats, ambient haze, and introspective synth lines, In Waves is both an evolution and a reckoning—a full-circle return to the dancefloor, seen through grown-up eyes.
This is Jamie xx at his most cinematic. The album balances experimentation with restraint, conjuring up late-night warehouse memories while carving space for emotional intimacy. His signature palette remains—warm pads, unpredictable percussion, flickers of vocal samples—but this time, it feels less about control and more about surrender. Whether you’re on headphones at dawn or mid-club peak, In Waves resonates.
Where rave roots meet emotional reflection
From the opener “Wanna,” In Waves sets the tone. It’s fast and floaty, nodding to early UK rave, but with a distinct stillness under the surface. Jamie isn’t rushing for the drop—he’s letting the tension stretch, echo, fold back in on itself. It’s a pattern that continues across the album. “Still Summer” and “Running In Place” don’t chase climaxes. They drift, unfurl, catch you off guard with a single filtered snare or ghostly vocal cut.
There’s restraint here that feels deliberate. Jamie xx isn’t making crowd‑pleasers. He’s layering emotion into club templates, pushing toward vulnerability rather than euphoria. The standout “Echoes” builds like a sunrise—fragile melodies circling a pulsing low-end, eventually cracking open into raw catharsis. It’s one of the most personal tracks he’s ever released.
A full tracklist that flows like a live set
The tracklist is curated like a DJ set—thoughtful, slow-burning, and emotionally charged. Here’s how it plays out:
- Wanna
- Treat Each Other Right
- Waited All Night (featuring Romy and Oliver Sim)
- Baddy on the Floor (featuring Honey Dijon)
- Dafodil (featuring Kelsey Lu, John Glacier, and Panda Bear)
- Still Summer
- Life (featuring Robyn)
- The Feeling I Get from You
- Breather
- All You Children (featuring The Avalanches)
- Every Single Weekend (Interlude)
- Falling Together (featuring Oona Doherty)
The deluxe vinyl edition includes five bonus tracks that extend the album’s after-hours vibe:
- Idontknow
- Let’s Do It Again
- Kill Dem
- It’s So Good
- F U (featuring Erykah Badu)
Each track brings a different shade of Jamie’s sonic identity, from hazy nostalgia to bold experimentation. There are no filler moments. Everything feels intentional and deeply tuned into the rhythm of memory.
Collaborators bring texture, not distraction
Jamie xx is no stranger to iconic features, and In Waves leans into that—but never loses cohesion. Romy and Oliver Sim appear on “Waited All Night,” a track that reunites The xx with a warmth that’s less melancholic, more hopeful. Honey Dijon turns “Baddy on the Floor” into a sweaty dancefloor stomper, while Robyn adds her unmistakable ache to “Life,” one of the album’s most understated moments.
Even more experimental collabs shine. “Dafodil,” featuring Kelsey Lu, Panda Bear, and John Glacier, is woozy and wide-eyed—equal parts ambient jazz and underwater jungle. On paper, it’s chaos. In practice, it works. Each guest contributes a thread to Jamie’s overarching sonic vision without pulling the spotlight away from the production. The cohesion holds.
The vinyl version extends the story
The deluxe vinyl release pushes In Waves into full club-night territory. The five additional tracks aren’t just bonus material—they’re essential for understanding the project’s full scope. “Kill Dem” and “Let’s Do It Again” were already in heavy DJ rotation, but here they’re recontextualized. They act as anchor points between Jamie’s past singles and his current emotional depth.
“F U,” a ghostly dream-sequence featuring Erykah Badu, adds a completely different dimension. It’s unpredictable and glitchy, yet somehow soothing. The vinyl edition turns In Waves into a physical artefact—a proper mood piece meant to be absorbed across two sides, needle down, lights low.
A natural continuation of his legacy
In Waves isn’t a left turn—it’s an expansion. It sits comfortably beside 2015’s In Colour, but it feels older, wiser, less concerned with immediacy. Jamie’s production has matured, his choices more nuanced. Where In Colour lit up with drops and Technicolor choruses, In Waves simmers. It invites repeated listens. It asks you to feel, not just move.
That evolution is what makes it resonate. You can hear the past in the snares, the future in the silence. There’s a deliberate emotional throughline that keeps the album grounded, even when it veers into abstraction. It’s a reminder that electronic music doesn’t need to shout to be powerful.
Final words on Jamie xx’s In Waves
Jamie xx’s In Waves is a grown-up rave record. It honors the spirit of club culture while embracing nuance, intimacy, and imperfection. The album doesn’t aim to define a moment—it lingers in-between them. Through his detailed production and carefully chosen collaborations, Jamie gives us a rare thing: electronic music that feels timeless and deeply human. Whether you’re revisiting it next week or five years from now, In Waves will still hold.
Jamie xx’s official website https://jamiexx.com
