It seems with each new excursion Jamie Lidell reveals more about himself through his music. In naming his new album simply Jim, Lidell looks to have made this point even more apparent; by deconstructed a lot of his styles, and refined them down to its most basic essence of what lies at his musical core. And the essence of Jim is cool.

Jim is a lot less linear than his previous album Multiply and feels more conjunct, too. It has fewer filters and less of an electronic influence; instead it gets back to the more rootsy sounds of real, raw, blue-eyed soul. Lidell still manages to throw in some techy edges here and there for good measure, and still obviously appreciates a bad-assed beat. But this album would also sound at home with some of the session music of funk and soul bands of the late 70’s and 80s.

The album opens up with the track Another Day, which sets the feel of the album. It’s light and catchy with great melodies, a gospel choir sound and some good ‘ole hand clappin’ that sounds a lot more Harlem than Huntingdon (Lidell’s home town). Next up is Wait For Me and then Out Of My System, both certified toe-tappers with shades of Stevie Wonder shining through, indeed it certainly feels like this album was something he needed to get out of his system. The pace drops a few notches on All I Wanna Do which is a bit of a bluesy ballad which really throws itself back to the bayou, with some hints of slide guitar, some mournful harmonica – quite a beautiful song with a fair deal of emotion weaved into it. The pace then ramps back up to the bolder, brassier Little Bit of Feel Good, the first single released from the album, which has a big, chunky bassline stomping throughout with some funky guitar accompaniment. This one’s sure to get a lot of airplay.

Figured Me Out has a dramatic staccato rhythm that flows into a rolling chorus, and the tune features some synthed out piano chords more reminiscent of Lidell’s earlier work – this another standout on the album. Hurricane has a heavier, more frenetic pace which varies up the pitch of the album and almost verges on an old-school rock feel. Greenlight floats back down to the more soulful range hangs there beautifully. It’s a smooth melodic number that will have you swaying and smiling, both inside and out. Jim rounds out nicely with another slow, low, beautiful and baleful ballad and is a fitting end to a brilliant album.

Whilst the album shows none of Lidell’s layering a’ Capella featured in a lot of his live performances, what it does show is a man with a whole lot of soul, with influences from funk, soul and even a dash of Motown that shape the album. But Lidell gives it a current, yet timeless feel and he’s got a tremendous ear for a classic tune. Couple this with arguably one of the best male soul voices of our generation, and you can’t go wrong. This seems to have been an evolution in getting back to basics and just might prove to be a breakthrough, crossover success for Lidell, bringing him into a limelight that he fairly, well deserves. It’s an album that you’ll play over and over, again and again, up loud, and down low – it’s gloriously positive soul food.