Jamie Lidell started his career producing experimental techno and then, over the course of 2005's Multiply and 2008's Jim, Lidell moved to playing pretty straight neo-soul, even featuring a full band. Compass finds Lidell taking a stylistic turn from Jim, synthesizing all of these artistic phases into an interesting record that is likely to confuse some fans while bringing in plenty of new ones. If one were to put his career in terms of Sly and the Family Stone albums, Multiply was Lidell's Stand!, Jim was his Dance To The Music, and here is his There's A Riot Goin' On. An eerie record of disenchanted funk grooves, the sounds of a musical genius losing control to his personal demons. Inspired by all of those dark funk depictions of the troubles of inner-city America circa the early seventies, just transposed to a British white guy in 2010.

Despite my initial temptation to draw analogies to specific albums Compass evokes, I do not mean to imply that this is a stylistically static or derivative album. Album opener “Completely Exposed” pairs Lidell’s plaintive howl with a shuffling drum machine, some rumbling bass and little else. It is immediately apparent that this is a change from Jim, which featured live drumming almost exclusively and here we’re treated to some classically synthetic 808 drum sounds. “Your Sweet Boom” pairs a highly processed Jamie Lidell with a sweet and clear Lidell. “She Needs Me” would not be out of place in Boyz II Men’s catalog, whereas “Enough’s Enough” evokes a messier Jackson 5. The title track starts with only an acoustic guitar and bass before Morricone-esque horns join the party and then the coda devolves into solo percussion with Lidell seemingly losing the beat and the song taking a very distancing, disillusioned tone. “Gypsy Blood” comes back strong and leads to the end of the album, through the Beck collaboration “Coma Chameleon”, Feist collaboration “Big Drift” and the almost-gospel of “You See My Light”.

Now, these disparate stylistic leanings might lead you to believe that this is a difficult listen, and if that’s the case, you might just be right. As someone who always prefers tighter, cohesive albums, I found this initially troubling. Now, I was never fully won over, but there is a certain unifying tone that eventually won my adoration. The overall sense of distance and alienation is well served by this disparate tone. This is a consistently funky and soulful record, just maybe soul of someone like Swamp Dogg or the funk of George Clinton at his most strung out. That really might lead me to the most remarkable and consistent characteristic of this record: Lidell’s voice. As he has proven throughout his career, Jamie possesses a powerful, soulful voice, unmatched by many in the business today. He has the power to drive some of powerful funk this side of James Brown, but can still hold up the sort of soul-crushing melancholy of Sam Cooke. I’m not going to say he’s quite as good as either of the aforementioned legends, but I still just put his name in the same sentence as both, and that’s saying a hell of a lot.

This record was a little off-putting for me at first, as I had expected some more organic neo-soul, but repeated listening found me warming up to this darker, slightly off-kilter affair. His last two records were both internally consistent and highly enjoyable, whereas this is much more diverse and a much more trying listen. A little more demanding of its audience, but rewarding just the same.

Track List:
01. Completely Exposed
02. Your Sweet Boom
03. She Needs Me
04. I Wanna Be Your Telephone
05. Enough's Enough
06. The Ring
07. You Are Waking
08. I Can Love Again
09. It's a Kiss
10. Compass
11. Gypsy Blood
12. Coma Chameleon
13. Big Drift
14. You See My Light