Jamie Lidell

Building A Beginning

Treacle-voiced soul rebel goes back to basics.

Classic soul, on-the-fly sampledelia and quirky vocal techno have all appeared on Jamie Lidell’s CV over the past couple of decades. But change is on the menu for the boy from Cambridgeshire, now decanted to Nashville, married, and with a young son. He’s picked up a Grammy nomination for his work with Lianne La Havas, and Building A Beginning – the first on his own Jajulin label – is the sound of him going back to basics, having collected a team of session musicians with some serious résumés. From sparkling, strutting, ’80s funk (Walk Right Back) to smoochy, deep-burnt love songs (Find It Hard To Say) and jazzy, psychedelic soul (Building A Beginning), it’s a showcase for Lidell’s most potent weapon, his voice. It bursts with love – for family, for the power of musicianship, but most of all, like Lidell’s hero Stevie Wonder, for the art of storytelling.