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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Multiply
Universal acclaim
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 57 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 28 June 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic, Soul
Summary
One half of the electronica outfit Super_Collider, producer Jamie Lidell returns with a second solo album that finds him in an unlikely new role: that of a soul singer.
Also By This Artist: Jim
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Warp
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Dusted Magazine
A silky, bright, singing-in-the-shower masterstroke of joy and elation.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
This is a major step forward in pushing the IDM aesthetic into the bigger territory of soul and R&B music.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Multiply sounds like he picked up some ancient reel-to-reel tape from lost Holland-Dozier-Holland sessions and gave them a 2005 production spit-and-polish.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
Although Lidell's voice lacks muscle and butter, he knows how to launch a falsetto, and the beats on "A Little Bit More" and "The City" should not be played within earshot of anyone wearing a pacemaker.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Multiply is not just the year’s most adventurous album, it’s one of its most melodic, soulful, and engaging as well.
Read Full Review >Urb
Truly strange and beautiful. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.102]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
How he makes good on such a seemingly noxious premise remains a mystery... but Lidell's star shines from whatever angle it might be spied.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
Lidell has created an album of flawless, imaginative, and radical funk grooves.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Listen to Multiply once and you'll be struck by how reverent it is; listen to it three times and you'll start to notice the microscopic digital artifacts and subtle tweaks that give it personality and pop.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
If even a hint of Jamiroquai makes you gag, stay away; otherwise, proceed to the dance floor, please. [22 Jul 2005, p.74]
cokemachineglow
Outside the charismatic skill of Lidell's shapeshifting vocals and his forward-looking arrangements, the actual songs of Multiply aren't of as indelible an essence as the classics that they imitate.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Lidell has a fine voice, arguably one of the most potent white soul singers England has given us since Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie.
Read Full Review >Mojo
The heritage soul signposts multiply with almost hallucinatory rapidity. [Aug 2005, p.104]
New Musical Express
His skill rests in the realisation that you can't airbrush soul: so, instead of smoothing rough edges, these cuts of cyborg funk fidget with digital tics and gasps. [11 Jun 2005, p.67]
Slant Magazine
An album that, in its best moments, draws comparisons to at-peak Prince and, at its worst, lands in the respectable company of Nikka Costa’s Everybody Got Their Something.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Multiply sacrifices cohesion in its quest for stylistic diversity, but it’s a bravura tour through the smooth sounds and hot jams of yesteryear.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Multiply marks the full flowering of a singular talent. [Jul 2005, p.99]
Playlouder
'Multiply' sees the flavours of Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Prince and Sly Stone twisted into 2005 with subtly inventive touches and modern production suss.
Read Full Review >Spin
Sound[s] like Prince cutting the ass out of Squarepusher's pants. [Aug 2005, p.103]
Blender
The idea is to build a monorail between Aphex Twin and Stax Records; the songwriting eventually slacks off, but Lidell's performances don't. [Aug 2005, p.111]
Q Magazine
A blistering song set with the playful spirit of '80s Prince. [Jul 2005, p.115]
PopMatters
More than a patchy but occasionally brilliant album, Multiply is the whisper that the greatest soul music, rather than being trapped in our memories of times gone by, may yet play free in days to come.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
He really is pouring everything he has into the whole thing, but there's so much overly earnest, reverential, "let's get back to making real music" energy floating around that you can sense it nibbling away at the desire to make something that sounds like today.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 57 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Matty M gave it a10:
Unreal, Jamie is the white De Angelo, Justin Timberlake and Robin Thick ain't got nothin' on this cat...he's bad..........intelligent too........I'm a fan :)
Blair S gave it a9:
Very solid album. The single, Multiply, is definitely a highlight. One of the best tracks in a long time!
Sim G gave it a9:
Very creative, great combination on an album, but give it some time. It takes a little bit of time to grow on you.
Paul The giraffe gave it a10:
funky as f. Well jackson
for teh win gave it a9:
Grew on my quicker than I could find the loop button on my CD player, and I'm still not sick of it after about 3 months of constant enjoyment. Feels very much like the music of one man made enormous but still sounding like it's in the room 'with you'.
RD Smith gave it a10:
Great fusion of soul and electronica. I knew this was good way back when I heard the whole album in May.
Terrence O gave it a9:
Though I discovered this a little late I am completly in love. The album, while all soul and R&B, does jump around in style quite a bit. Multiply being the highlight of the album sounds like Sly, which is imediately followed by a track that wouldnt be out of place on Thriller. This is really a staggering accomplishment of an album, especially for a guy who used to make boring glitchy IDM... oh and who happens to be white... we have our new Eric Bourdon!
