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Jim is most reminiscent of the Southern deep soul of the late '60s, although recorded so well (and so dry) that it betrays its lineage. Add to that an assortment of unobtrusive guests (including Nikka Costa, Gonzales, Peaches, and Alex Acuña) and the result is a record that reveals soul and sincerity.
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This is an album by an artist getting comfortable with his softer side. It's another welcome surprise.
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This is saying something, because every single song on Jim will battle for space in the part of your brain that gets hooked.
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Soul is about voice and music that connects the church and the bedroom, with elegance and earthiness. And, by that crucial measure, Jim is a great soul record.
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U.K. upstart Jamie Lidell’s latest is trapped squarely in this box, but the quality of his vocal performance generally keeps things from being stifling.
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The subtlety of these electronics and the discretion of their employment are what makes Jim an ultimately more accomplished record than "Multiply."
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On Jim, Lidell course-corrects by choosing a warmer, more organic palette. It's a retro-soul record minus the bleeps and whistles, and it exposes Lidell as the charming, confident vocalist he is.
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And so it goes for a tidy ten tracks, all topped by a voice of gently boiling caramel--a style that channels the best aural qualities of Terence Trent D'Arby and Ray LaMontagne while side-stepping their cloying overearnestness.
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Under The RadarLidell's Jim says that it's okay to have fun and not take yourself too seriously, and that's pretty cool in my book. [Spring 2008, p.78]
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Ultimately, this is nothing more than workaday feel good bar music, technically well executed with the peaks and troughs in all the right places.
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Alternative PressWhat elevates Jim from faux-soul Jamiroquai ghetto is the effortless exuberance and keen reverence that Lidell brings to the vocals and arrangements, hand-crafting dusty grooves as fresh as the first drop of the needle. [July 2008, p.162]
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Ol'boy touches the listener deep on the inside with the polished shimmy of Motown and the greasy strut of Stax tipping his hats to the likes of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and kJackie Wilson. [Mar/Apr 2008, p.107]
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NOW MagazineThankfully, this is more about Otis, Marvin and Stevie, which Lidell does amazingly well for a British experimental techno brat.
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Here, he seems more comfortable in his pasty skin. [May 2008, p.76]
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SpinHe refines his act. [May 2008, p.106]
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UncutHe's at his best here on the playful Beck-like 'Hurricane' and the sweetly mournful 'Rope of Sand,' but Jamiroquai-averse listeners would do well to avoid 'Figure Me Out.' [May 2008, p.102]
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Jim remodels him into a standard bust-a-gut soul singer who purveys tunes so unrepentantly commercial that the album has been greeted with shock by the faithful. But it's not unappealing.
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So while a cautious welcome is given to this near-flawless interpretation of soul music, it is done with the observation that another record of such polish will be ultimately empty, and more than a little disappointing.
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MojoHis near facsimile approach to fond memory demands a revitalising new element and he hasn't got it. [May 2008, p.112]
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Q MagazineLidell's gospel hollars are impressive, but the music verges on pastiche. [May 2008, p.136]
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It's tempting to knock Lidell for being too derivative of Wonder and Donny Hathaway or for simply being the latest in a never-ending line of Brits mimicking the sound of Soulsville, but why bust up a party that's this much fun?
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Entertainment WeeklyIt's hard not to wish, though, that Lidell would transcend what is essentially a Donny Hathaway tribute act and dig out something more intrinsically his own. [9 May 2008, p.65]
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VibeLidell reaches back further than he has before, appoximating Sam Cooke, Ben E. King, and even Jackie Wilson, elegantly nodding to his clarion-voiced heroes while never allowing the album to become mired in mere tribute. [May 2008, p.72]
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Old is made new again in the best possible way on what could surely be the perfect soundtrack for a sultry, soulful summer.
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Jim is pleasant, polite, listenable, smooth (it’s like Yacht Rock for the nu-soul set), undemanding…and a bit of a bore.
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Featuring a crunching call-and-response bass line, 'Hurricane' not only makes for a hell of a good time, but, much like the album Jim, also makes for one of Lidell’s tightest and most enjoyable to date.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 11
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Mixed: 0 out of 11
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Negative: 1 out of 11
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MattM.May 1, 2008
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derringerApr 30, 2008
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ToshFApr 25, 2008