Photo by Alasdair McLellan

Dance music rarely fails to succeed as an art form more capable than most in not just bringing powerful messages to the masses, but bringing the masses together, without needing say much beyond a few words colored boldly through sound and motion. The one being shared by Jamie xx on the lead single off the electronic producer’s long-awaited sophomore studio album, In Waves, is a simple yet impassioned plea: “Treat Each Other Right”. While he’s remained incredibly active in releasing one-offs and doing it live since 2015’s In Color changed the vibrancy of sound, there’s something particular special about the energy Jamie xx turns up in the formally curated medium. In its architecture, he’s connecting the dots between the past and present moment with the future form in fusing a pitch-tuned sample of Almeta Lattimore’s “Oh My Love” with floor-shifting patterns of deep house raves and trance lightning. Its timing, being released as Pride Month parties across the globe pop off, only gives more reason to see its arrival as another reason to celebrate inclusivity in a way that invites all to shout a lyric that still resonates hard nearly 50 years later in a new way of thinking on it through ultra modern frequencies.

Directed by: Rosie Marks

Jamie xx’s In Waves will be released September 10th on Young Records.