Jamie xx In Waves

Critic's Take

In this reviewer's voice: Jamie xx's In Waves is predictably great without full conviction, trading the headphone intimacy of In Colour for loudplace triumphs. The best songs - “Baddy On The Floor” and “Every Single Weekend” - show his gift for exuberant drops and glimmering, hopeful interludes, even as the album sometimes tips toward tongue-in-cheek insincerity. The record is often energizing and ecstatic, but you can also hear creative burnout in the occasionally on-the-fence mantras that lift and undercut the emotional stakes. Overall, it feels like a smart, serviceable evolution that sometimes gives the sense of dreaming about feeling good rather than actually feeling it.

Key Points

• Baddy On The Floor is the best song because its infectious energy and Honey Dijon feature push Jamie into ecstatic, life-affirming territory.
• The album's core strengths are luminous production and accessible, upbeat dance tracks that trade introspective intimacy for communal loud-place joy.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves is at once club-minded and quietly sentimental, its best songs threading intimacy into dancefloor momentum. The reviewer's favorite, “Waited All Night”, stands out for recapturing the chemistry of the xx, while singles like “Treat Each Other Right” and “Baddy on the Floor” drive the record's momentum. The album's wave-like sequencing - cameos, instrumentals, and climactic moments such as “All You Children” - makes listening in order rewarding, and the balance of restraint and pulse gives the best tracks their emotional heft.

Key Points

• The best song, "Waited All Night", is best because it recaptures the chemistry of the xx and feels emotionally potent.
• The album's core strengths are its collaborative cameos, wave-like sequencing, and the balance of restraint with dancefloor energy.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves reads like a DJ record written by a songwriter, which is why the best tracks - notably “Life” and “Treat Each Other Right” - land so memorably. Jem Aswad's tone in the review is admiring and slightly analytical, noting that “Life” is a gorgeous Robyn collaboration and that “Treat Each Other Right” embeds hooks you find yourself singing for weeks. He emphasizes the inventive sampling on “Wanna” too, where wordless, spiralling hooks become the album's secret melodies. Overall the reviewer frames In Waves as an album that functions as both foreground and background, dancefloor and deep listening, because Jamie turns microseconds of voice into full songs.

Key Points

• The best song is a collaboration like "Life" because its songwriting and Robyn's presence make it a clear emotional centerpiece.
• The album's core strength is marrying DJ production and deep songcraft, turning tiny vocal samples into full, memorable melodies.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves reads like a love letter to the club, and the best songs - notably “Baddy On The Floor” and “Dafodil” - are the moments when his crate-digging and emotional clarity collide. The record often trades in syrupy romanticism and New Age uplift, yet tracks such as “Wanna” and “Treat Each Other Right” supply the sweat and positivity that make the album's aim clear. On the standout “Dafodil” Jamie's vision — marrying Astrud Gilberto and JJ Barnes — is audacious and decisive, and “Baddy On The Floor” supplies the electric, nostalgic hits that sell the concept. Even when the narrative turns choppy late in the set, the music remains excellent, which is why these tracks emerge as the best on In Waves.

Key Points

• Dafodil is best because of its audacious sample-matching and sensual, visionary production.
• The album's core strengths are nostalgic club homage, meticulous crate-digging, and restorative emotional logic.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx’s In Waves is a maximalist return that rewards repeat listens, and the best songs on In Waves are where his club instincts meet emotional oddity. “Baddy on the Floor” is singled out as the album’s irresistible high - a liquid, Italo house/UK garage delight that feels like pure floor-filling magic. Equally compelling are “Waited All Night” and “Still Summer”, the former for its xx-linked vocal intimacy and the latter for synthwork that echoes In Colour’s most transportive moments. The record’s darker corners, from “The Feeling I Get from You” to “All You Children”, make those highlights sharper by contrast.

Key Points

• “Baddy on the Floor” is the best song because it is described as absurdly danceable and an irresistible meeting of styles.
• The album’s core strengths are Jamie xx’s encyclopedic dance-music knowledge and a rewarding blend of maximalist energy with unsettling, experimental touches.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx’s In Waves reads like a homecoming, an album that mines club-night emotions to vivid effect while favoring individual moments over a single throughline. The best songs on In Waves - “Life”, “Treat Each Other Right” and “Still Summer” - deliver the record’s high points: Robyn’s dangerous euphoria on “Life”, and the deep pulsing house uplift of “Treat Each Other Right” and “Still Summer”. There is more of a collection-of-dance-songs feel than a cohesive statement, yet sincerity and emotional depth keep these tracks resonant and alive.

Key Points

• “Life” is the best song because Robyn’s vocal and the production create dangerous euphoria and emotional depth.
• The album’s core strengths are its sincere, club-rooted emotionality and strong individual dance tracks.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx’s In Waves is a bigger, glossier leap into dancefloor pleasure that still carries the slightness Jesse Dorris finds in spots. He repeatedly lifts out “Baddy on the Floor” as easily the album’s most vital track, and places “Life” and “Waited All Night” among its best moments for Robyn’s command and the band’s melancholy return. Dorris praises the record’s collaged guests and festival-ready spectacle while lamenting that many moments feel tasteful and antiperspirant rather than oceanic ecstasy. The result answers searches for the best songs on In Waves with a clear nod to “Baddy on the Floor”, “Life”, and “Waited All Night” as the tracks that most fulfill Jamie xx’s promise of a peak on the dancefloor.

Key Points

• The best song is "Baddy on the Floor" for its vital gospel-house energy and Honey Dijon feature.
• The album’s core strengths are its polished dancefloor production, guest collaborations, and historical nods to dance music, tempered by an emotional slightness.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves often mistakes broad, festival-ready gestures for true club intelligence, but its best tracks still shine. The LP's strengths surface when sampling is allowed to breathe - “Still Summer” and “The Feeling I Get From You” shimmer with honest, dreamy restraint. Conversely, songs like “Treat Each Other Right” and “Waited All Night” feel rushed and didactic, undercutting their sentiment. For listeners asking for the best songs on In Waves, look to those quieter, extended moments rather than the cloying hooks designed for arenas.

Key Points

• The best song(s) are those where sampling and restraint let textures breathe, notably "Still Summer".
• The album's core strength is Jamie xx's sampling and slow-burn production, but it is weakened by cloying hooks and festival-friendly pastiche.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves feels like a rekindled love letter to club culture and quiet reflection, where tracks such as “Wanna” and “Waited All Night” stand out for fusing garage, house and hushed, emotive vocals. The reviewer's language is exuberant yet precise, praising how “Wanna” pulls you into a euphoric, nostalgic space and how “Waited All Night” builds to a lush, slow-burn climax. The quieter songs, notably “Daffodil”, provide the album's emotional core, while cuts like “Baddy on the Floor” supply pure dancefloor euphoria. Altogether, the piece presents the best songs on In Waves as both immediate club hits and intimate, life-affirming moments.

Key Points

• The best song is the opener “Wanna” because it immerses the listener and fuses garage, house and disco into a euphoric, nostalgic space.
• The album's core strengths are its seamless blend of dancefloor energy and introspective emotional depth, marrying past influences with fresh production.

Themes

Critic's Take

If you want to know the best songs on In Waves, it is the tracks that lean into club euphoria that stand out. Jamie xx sounds most alive on “Baddy On The Floor” and “Breather”, pieces that celebrate ecstatic, speaker-shaking moments even as the album flirts with home-listening warmth. The drifting, collaborative “Dafodil” also ranks highly, a woozy, guest-studded evocation of the fleeting high that underpins much of the record. Elsewhere, songs like “Still Summer” and “Life” show craft but feel a touch too pop-leaning compared with the album's club-focused peaks.

Key Points

• The best song(s) are those that embrace club euphoria, notably "Baddy On The Floor" and "Breather", for their stark, hypnotic power.
• The album's core strengths are Jamie xx's command of dancefloor textures, collaborations, and a consistent mood of ecstatic nostalgia.

Themes

Critic's Take

In a voice that wanders between affectionate nostalgia and clear-eyed critique, Jamie xx's In Waves rewards you with peaks like “Breather”, “Waited All Night” and the wistful closer “Falling Together” while often slipping into forgettable, sunny club filler. The record is at its strongest when it leans into those mournful keys and layered samples that defined his debut, and tracks such as “Breather” deliver euphoric club moments that feel essential. Yet the album also contains missteps and moments that play like pleasant but transient soundtrack material, which keeps In Waves from matching the staying power of In Colour.

Key Points

• ‘Breather’ is the album's standout because it embodies euphoric, pulsing club energy that the reviewer calls "everything a club classic should be."
• The album's core strengths are nostalgic emotional electronica and well-executed club moments, tempered by forgettable, sunny filler.

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves is a triumphant return that insists you feel it physically, and the record's best songs - notably “Life”, “Dafodil” and “Waited All Night” - underline that claim. The reviewer's voice revels in the album's bombastic energy and pop acumen, praising “Life” for its Robyn-like pulse while admiring Kelsey Lu's sultry contribution on “Dafodil”. He points to the communal thrill of “Waited All Night” with Romy and Oliver as proof Jamie still moves crowds. Read together, these tracks make clear why In Waves ranks among the year's best dance records, songs meant to be played loud and felt in the bones.

Key Points

• The best song, "Life", is the standout for its Robyn-like pop acumen and dancefloor immediacy.
• The album's core strengths are its collaborative energy, physical dancefloor focus, and dynamic pacing between breakneck and languid moments.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx's In Waves finds its best tracks where pop hooks break through the night-club haze, most notably “Life” and “Waited All Night”. The review leans into how “Waited All Night” takes centre stage with chopped-up vocals and a disconcerting familiarity, while “Life” delivers a pure pop moment, Robyn turning a late-night interlude into earwormy euphoria. The presence of The Avalanches on “All You Children” is noted as a quieter pop-collage highlight, showing Jamie's knack for turning scattershot sampling into memorable dancefloor moments. Overall the best songs on In Waves are those that marry meticulous production to undeniable hooks, with “Life” standing out as the clearest instant-grab.

Key Points

• “Life” is best for its immediate, joyous pop hook and Robyn’s contribution.
• The album’s core strength is turning meticulous, scattershot sampling into dancefloor-friendly pop moments.

Themes

Critic's Take

Jamie xx arrives again with In Waves, a meticulous follow-up that wears its creator's perfectionism lightly while still aiming for the club's timeless pleasures. Bassett relishes the album's melancholic counterpoint to euphoria and flags standout moments like “Breather”, “Wanna” and “Life” as the record's emotional and dancefloor peaks. The reviewer's sentences are measured and admiring, noting how tracks such as “Baddy on the Floor” and “All You Children” marry guest-star sparkle with immaculately judged production. Overall, the narrative positions In Waves as a complex, less immediate but deeply rewarding record, best heard for its curated high points.

Key Points

• The best song moments fuse immaculate production with emotional peaks, exemplified by “Breather” and “Wanna”.
• The album's core strengths are precision production, melancholic depth balanced with dancefloor energy, and strong guest contributions.

Themes