Jamie Isaac, unsettled soul

First finding a voice on A New Place 2 Drown, the excellent 2015 album by his friend Archy Marshall (aka King Krule), it’s not surprising that Jamie Isaac is also a fan of nonchalant vocals. He’s misty of voice, if not to say downright foggy. And this fogginess runs through the whole of Couch Baby, his debut album that arrives after E.Ps, I Will Be Cold Soon from 2012 and Blue Break, two years later. On it, the young 22 year old Brit bathes his voice in atmospheric productions that mix electro, jazz, and soul. As such, this first album sounds very much like the soundtrack to a lucid dream. And a good one at that. It’s a kind of long, melodious, smooth groove that leaves the listener in a trance, with its jazz notes and Chet Baker inflexions. Speaking of influences and inspirations, on the cover of Couch Baby we see Isaac surrounded by his CDs, vinyls, and books, among them Maiden Voyage and Sunlight by Herbie Hancock, Who Is William Onyeabor? by William Onyeabor, the first 5 of King Krule’s records, as well as Black Messiah by D’Angelo. The man’s got taste.

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