Building a beginning

"On Building A Beginning, Jamie Lidell unplugs his laptop for the most conventional R&B album of his career ... and while there's some pleasure in satisfaction in Lidell's joy, beyond that Beginning doesn't offer many thrills. If this is his new beginning, it's an unambitious one: Lidell has never sounded like more of a traditionalist than he does on this amiable but uncomplicated record".

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"Jamie Lidell's first solo album away from Warp, Building a Beginning was released on the singer and producer's Jajulin label. It retreats from the early- to mid-'80s electro-funk moves of his self-titled previous full-length and is relatively old-school, often hewing close to gospel-tinged Southern soul. When the material is rooted in approaches and sounds of the late '60s and early '70s, it's still fresh, never verging on replication".

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"Siden slut-1990erne har [Lidell] både dyppet tæerne i snirklet electronica, 1980er-funk og rendyrket retrosoul ... Her trakterer han med en solid omgang håndvarme soulsange sunget med hjertet uden på tøjet. På numre som det flotte titelnummer og den harpe- og violinklingende ballade »Precious Years« sendes tankerne omgående i retning af Stevie Wonder i 1970erne, mens han på den gospelgyngende »Motionless« tager os med til søndagsgudstjeneste i de amerikanske sydstater. Enkelte steder brydes det stringente retroudtryk, men det ændrer ikke på et ikke videre originalt udtryk. Til gengæld er det enormt iørefaldende".

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