Over the last 15 years, Jamie Lidell has cemented his reputation as an artist refusing easy categorization—and that restless spirit follows the British poly-genre wizard into Building a Beginning, his sixth studio album and follow-up to 2013’s wild-eyed self-titled effort. Whereas Jamie Lidell was a full-body immersion into strident electro and pop sounds, Building a Beginning is Lidell purifying himself in the waters of smooth, earthy psychedelic soul—think the subtle low end on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, the swirling loveliness of Temptations’ Cloud Nine, and the beatific radiance of Stevie Wonder, all imbued with Lidell’s distinctive songwriting touch and impossibly gorgeous vocals.
This album is Lidell’s most personal work to date, a meditation on love and family brought on by the birth of Lidell’s first child, Julian—not coincidentally, the subject of Building a Beginning’s ebullient shaker “Julian.” “I wanted to write something that he wants to jump around to,” Lidell says while addressing the song’s breezy brightness, explaining that the song came from a desire to express “the energy and joy that’s now in our life.”
Working with some of the best players in the game such as Pino Palladino (bass, D’Angelo, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton), DaRu Jones (drums, Jack White), Pat Sansone (multi-instrumentalist, Wilco), Kudisan Kai, Traci Brown Bailey, and Tiffany Smith (backup-vocals, Chaka Khan), production from Justin Stanley (Beck, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney) and Ben Ash (Two Inch Punch), mixing from Jake Aron (Le1f, Fort Lean) and most importantly from Jamie's wife, Lindsey Rome who was deeply involved co-writing all the albums incredibly personal lyrics (and taking all the new photos), Lidell's raw talent is brought to the forefront.
Recent years have seen Jamie collaborating with some new friends and artists, resulting in a Grammy nod for his work with Lianne La Havas and a hit single for his featured vocal's on A-Trak's ‘We All Fall Down’.
Lidell is known for putting on an amazing live show.
