Q&A: Jamie xx on solo debut, befriending Caribou, new xx album

TORONTO – On his incandescent solo debut, “In Colour,” Jamie xx faced an opportunity to wrest the spotlight for himself. Instead, he chose to invite his xx bandmates to bask in the record’s biggest moments.

Romy Madley Croft contributes her haunting vocals to the wistful “SeeSaw” and the cathartic “Loud Places,” while Oliver Sim’s icy croon elicits the album’s most resounding echo of the xx on “Stranger in a Room.”

“They’re the easiest people for me to work with and the best, because I know them so well,” Jamie xx (nee Smith) said during a recent interview in Toronto.

“They’re the reason I’m able to make this record in the first place. It wouldn’t make sense without them.”

Upon interacting with the Brit producer, it becomes clear he’s likely the type to peel from the spotlight.

Shouldering the press obligations alone, for instance, seems to him an unpleasant obligation.

“I just have to carry the weight of it on my shoulders rather than being able to share it between three people,” he said.

Does he miss his bandmates?

“For this part, yes,” he said, laughing faintly.

With “In Colour” garnering rave reviews, he’ll have to endure only more attention.

CP: The record finds a great balance between conflicting feelings.

Jamie xx: When I go into the studio to make music, it’s usually to escape something.

I enjoy sad music, but then as soon as I’m making music that I’m happy with, I feel the happiest I’ve ever been.

So I think what comes out is a juxtaposition of melancholy and joy.

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CP: You collaborated with Caribou (Dan Snaith from Dundas, Ont.) on a long mix. How familiar are you with him?

Jamie xx: I’ve known him a long time now. I used to go listen to him play at (London club) Plastic People, and I’d be waiting for him to finish to go and chat about records.

Eventually, the band started taking off and we just got to know each other. And we were similar-minded, I guess.

I’m a fan of his music, definitely. I listened to him back when he was Manitoba, in the early days of me making music.

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CP: How’s work going on the new xx album?

Jamie xx: It’s going very well. We’ve been recording all over the world, really enjoying it and taking our time.

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CP: So there isn’t time-related pressure on you?

Jamie xx: There’s not really pressure, except from ourselves to have some sort of deadline —so that we don’t just endlessly make music.

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Answers have been edited and condensed.

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