Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting

Tim

14 years ago

Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting Jamie Woon may have made the BBC’s Sound of 2011 list, but up until today with the release of Mirrorwriting most people will have heard Night Air and Lady Luck from this east London talent. He’s got the right family credentials, which you never know may help or hurt, and the right dubstep credentials having worked alongside Burial a number of times over the last few years, but he’s finally delivered on all that promise.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that it took me a little while to get into his sound – when Night Air first landed on my desk the the garage and soul sound felt just a little too close to the bone of a certain musician sent up on Bo Selecta not so long ago. But that Woon wears those influences on his sleeve, throws in some dubstep production, and manages to pull out an album of this quality is to his credit.

He purrs his soft, rich and soulful voice throughout, wrapping it in slowed garage beats, electronic textures, and string swells and some dubstep wobble. It’s a pop album of a rhythm and blues persuasion, a pick’n’mix of the , gospel, soul, funk, garage, dubstep and everything in between, but with his voice and undeniable production skills he has created something more than the sum of his influences. Nowhere is this clearer than on tracks such as my personal favourite Spirits into which he turns into a gospel-influenced electronic ballad.

Jamie Woon – Night Air

Jamie Woon – Spirits

Jamie Woon – Spiral

Jamie Woon – Night Air (Ramadanman Refix)