#1. In Colour – Jamie xx
In 2015, I found myself busier than ever with an ever shrinking window of time available to spend listening to music. Priorities evolve and responsibilities increase as I continue stumble through adulthood. Where I used to have massive unobstructed blocks of time available to spend listening to album after album, I now have to be selective and purposeful with my listening time. If something gets put on repeat, it’s no accident. Artists earn their time in my rotation. I need to feel compelled, magnetized to the sound in order to justify putting on the same album again and again. Take me somewhere I’ve never been, ignite my imagination and I’ll come back.
On his gorgeous debut studio album In Colour, Jamie xx delivers eleven tracks with endless replay value. I’ve had In Colour on repeat for six months and the dazzling soundscapes of songs like “Obvs” and “Loud Places” haven’t lost any of their spark. Boldly emotive and ingeniously constructed, In Colour is music I can lose myself in. After all, The Album of the Year shouldn’t be merely the best album of the year; the Album of the Year should create a transcendent space where I long to revisit again and again. The Album of the Year needs an inescapable gravitational pull that always finds a way to bring me back around for another spin.
Jamie xx’s In Colour is the 2015 Album of the Year.
From the Compact Discography review of In Colour, published on June 30, 2015:
The In Colour album artwork is already iconic. The range of vibrant colors provide a beautiful analogue for the rich textures and soundscapes found inside. Eclectic but never disorganized, Jamie xx manages to focus 11 entirely unique tracks into one coherent progression of sound. It’s a nearly perfect vision and it is realized magnificently. Albums like In Colour remind me that everything I know and read about music is just static. No amount of research or review can entirely describe how music can make us feel but I am compelled to try. In Colour is an inspiration. The rest is noise.
Return to the 2015 Recap Guide
Compact Discography 
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