As I dreamed up ways of how to bring my blog bouncing back into action, the cogs in my head churned ideas of retrospective reviews, but just how retro are we talking? There is the big 25, highly attractive given the year, although connecting to the albums that came out when I was six years old didn’t quite fit the vision. The fifteen-year journey back to my teen obsessions was a fair contender, because after all, where would I be without even my most questionable choices? However, just glancing over the albums released ten years ago, I find a large number of old favourites who remain firmly in rotation today, and nothing fits the criteria more than my beloved In Colour by Jamie xx. As I started to write this piece it became less of a review and more of a doting trip down memory lane, but let’s just get into it.

Released on 29th May in 2015, In Colour was the debut studio album from Jamie xx following the release of singles Loud Places and Gosh, a track which completely blew my mind live at Brixton later that year. As a member of The xx since 2006, Jamie was not exactly new to the music world, and his journey to In Colour started much sooner than 2015, with remixes and original songs dating back to 2011. As for my introduction to Jamie xx, it would have been around 2014, having first being introduced to singles Sleep Sound and Girl. It was an immediate insight to his brain with the concept of Sleep Sound music video (consisting of deaf dancers moving to silence with artist Sofia Mattioli) and just the start of some masterful sampling in Girl.

Safe to say, I was hooked from the get-go, spending plenty of time listening to the singles and his Gil Scott-Heron album on repeat in anticipation, and then seeing him at Birmingham’s Rainbow Warehouse in March 2015. Everything that year was leading up to the release of In Colour, and we know I loved it then as a 21 year fresh out of uni, but how does it hold up today?

Bit of a rhetorical question that really. Evidently, talking about it ten years on, In Colour remains a gem in my collection. It is no secret to anyone that it is one of my all time favourites, but why do I love it so much?

Before even getting in to the music I think it just reminds me of a carefree time in life. As I said before my teen years started a lot of my current obsessions but it’s the early twenties that really set the standard for my music taste. Finishing uni was exciting and I felt a sense of freedom. Add to that, being young and “in love”. You would think it would be more bittersweet memories of listening to this album, but as I’ve continued to play it over the years, those memories exist more as a nod towards that sweet spot of youth and adulthood. A time where the responsibility of life is handed to you softly, rather than thrust down as a huge weight for your shoulders to bear. In Colour felt vibrant and offered a sense of community with a hopeful outlook on life.

The album focuses on themes of club culture, but from a considerably introvert point of view. It essentially celebrates music, specifically the London rave scene, bringing everyone from everywhere together, quite literally All Under One Roof Raving. It is very much understated in contrast to his latest album In Waves, which pumps out a grander sense of euphoria, rather than that which blossoms gently throughout In Colour. Don’t get me wrong this is a powerful album with some big dancefloor fillers like the booming bass notes on Gosh and the party vibe of I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times), but on the whole, there is a subtlety to it that emits a soft buzz of energy rather than complete overstimulation. I’ve quite often seen comparisons between the two albums describing In Waves as the main night out, and In Colour the more intimate afters. It is something that may not have been too obvious before, but it is a great example of two albums released nine years apart connecting even in their juxtaposition. In reality they are not too far apart in sound, but there is an undeniable shift in energy, almost a new confidence. It is done in a way not to diminish what came before but to shine a new light on it. I think of In Colour showing those tender first steps into the rave scene, ultimately setting the path for bigger things to come with In Waves. Like eyes being opened to new things and finding a safe space where you eventually feel comfortable to let go.

In October 2015 I saw Jamie xx play at Brixton and to this day it remains one of the most joyful shows I have ever been to. I have pieces of the confetti taped to an old scrapbook, and the fondest memories of everyone dancing together, not just in their friendship groups but all as one. It sounds corny, sure, but it was genuinely so beautiful. Everything had been considered and to see the development of this in his Alexandra Palace show last year was something special. Where before Gosh had boomed, it glimmered, (can you tell my favourite track) and I really enjoyed the live filming of dancers in the crowd projected on to the screen behind Jamie. That show might have been celebrating In Waves but it harked back to In Colour so wonderfully, giving those moodier lowkey club tracks a new lease of life.

In short. I loved it then. I love it now. I’ll pretty much love it forever.

**If Jamie xx being the first of the 10 year celebrations didn’t surprise you, wait til you see the next one, I promise you would never guess who…