If you were trying to compare someone to Jamie Lidell, you may have had a chance until he released this album. Multiply taught us that one track of an album can sound like it came from a different decade than all the rest. Jim taught us that maybe funk and soul aren't so different, and now this album takes us to an entirely different part of Jamie's psyche.
The beats are earth shattering, the hooks are contagious, and the vocals are of another planet. Parts of this sound like Jamie recorded them in his basement and parts sound like production from the latest hip-hop studio in LA. Of course it sounds that way, Beck produced it and everyone knows he can't stay in one genre for a whole album. James Gadson plays drums on a lot of it, and the motown feel is unmistakable. Feist and Chris Taylor offer backing vocals, which hopefully gets some of those indi-hipsters listening to this.
From the toe-tapping, Jackson 5-esque Enough is Enough, to the 808 break on completely exposed, this album keeps you grooving. By the time you get to the ballads like Compass and You See My Light, you will know that this man can sing, write and perform with the versatility of a young Stevie or Michael, and can sing circles around a Justin Timberlake or the other young wannabes cropping up in today's market.
The gritty undertones, distorted vocal sounds, beatboxing and textures on which I can't even put my finger cut right through to the true heart of this album; Singing your heart out about loving and love lost. I'd like to see this album become the sound of the 2010s, so all you indi-hipsters, pay for it rather than waiting for a torrent. We need to fund this man so he can continue on this journey of soul.