Quick Facts
Biography
James Thomas Smith (born 28 October 1988), better known as Jamie xx, is an English record producer, remixer, DJ and musician. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the English indie band The xx. He has been recognised with a 2016 nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album on his debut album In Colour.
Career
2005–09
Smith's musical career began in 2005 when he joined The xx accompanying old schoolmates Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Baria Qureshi of the Elliott School in London, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. He first used the stage name Jamie xx in July 2009 in a promotional mix for the band's debut album xx released on the FACT magazine mix series. The mixtape was compiled by Jamie Smith and featured, amongst others, four tracks credited to Jamie xx – one self-production and three remixes. The xx album went on to become platinum in the UK. Afterward, Jamie Smith went on to do more remix work for artists like Florence + The Machine, Adele, Jack Peñate and Glasser.
2010–present
In late 2010, a Jamie xx remix of the song "NY Is Killing Me" from Gil Scott-Heron's last album I'm New Here aired on radio stations across the UK and Europe. The remix of "I'll Take Care of U" followed in January 2011. Both singles drew the attention of the general public and the critics. They set the way for a 13-track remix album entitled We're New Here, produced entirely by Jamie xx and credited to "Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx". The album was released on 21 February 2011 on the XL Recordings label, but a full-album preview could be streamed on the website of The Guardian as early as 14 February. We're New Here received critical acclaim and was named "a cohesive, considered masterpiece in its own right" by BBC's Ele Beattie.
On 6 June 2011 the two-track self-produced single "Far Nearer"/"Beat For" was released. The song "Far Nearer" was selected Best New Track by Pitchfork, and the double A-side single charted at number 128 on the UK Singles Chart. Later the same year, Smith produced the title track off Drake's second album, Take Care, which features Rihanna. In addition, Smith helped create several reworks for Radiohead's song "Bloom" which were released on a remix album entitled TKOL RMX 1234567. He also co-produced the song "When It's All Over" with Alicia Keys on her Girl on Fire album. In 2014, he announced an upcoming collaboration with John Talabot on Tim Sweeney's Beats in Space online radio show. In 2014 he released the singles "Girl/Sleep Sound" and "All Under One Roof Raving".
On 27 March 2015 he released two singles. "Loud Places", featuring the xx's Romy Madley Croft, and "Gosh". On the same day he also announced that his debut album, In Colour, would be out on 1 June 2015. Ahead of its release, In Colour was streamed on iTunes as a preview with album-spanning visuals that 'reacted' to each sound.
Jamie xx composed the score for a ballet, Tree of Codes, commissioned by Manchester International Festival for its 2015 edition. Based on a novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, the ballet was choreographed by Wayne McGregor and had a set created by Olafur Eliasson.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK Indie | AUS | BEL (FL) | BEL (WA) | CAN | FRA | GER | IRE | NL | NZ | SWE | US | ||
| We're New Here (with Gil-Scott Heron) |
| 33 | 4 | — | 44 | — | — | 38 | — | 42 | — | — | — | — |
| In Colour |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 26 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 24 | 21 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK Indie | AUS | BEL (FL) | BEL (WA) | FRA | US Dance | ||||||
| "NY Is Killing Me" | 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | We're New Here (with Gil-Scott Heron) | |||
| "I'll Take Care of U" | 2011 | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Far Nearer / Beat For" | 128 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | non-album single | ||||
| "Girl / Sleep Sound" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | In Colour | |||
| "All Under One Roof Raving" | 123 | — | — | — | — | 199 | — | non-album single | ||||
| "Loud Places" (featuring Romy) | 2015 | 62 | — | 103 | 53 | 86 | 55 | — | In Colour | |||
| "Gosh" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | |||||
| "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" (featuring Young Thug and Popcaan) | 115 | — | 90 | 55 | 85 | — | — |
| ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
Other tracks
| Year | Title | Date | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Progress" | 7 October 2011 | RizLab Permance live |
| "Touch Me" (with Yasmin) | 20 February 2011 | Jamie XX mix on BBC 6 Music | |
| 2012 | "Touch Me" (Instrumental) | 31 January 2012 | Young Turks Takeover on FBi Radio |
| 2014 | "Continuum" (with Four Tet, Koreless and John Talabot) | 22 November 2014 | Continuum (Soundtrack) |
| "Sunrise" | |||
| 2016 | "Oh Gosh" (with Elf Kid) | 13 May 2016 | Vocal version of "Gosh" |
Remixes
| Year | Artist | Song | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Florence and the Machine | "You've Got the Love" | Jamie xx Re-work featuring The xx |
| Jack Penate | "Pull My Heart Away" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| The xx | "Basic Space" | Jamie xx Space Bass Mix | |
| "Blood Red Moon" | Jamie xx Bootleg | ||
| "Hot Like Fire" | Jamie xx Edit | ||
| "Islands" | Jamie xx Remix | ||
| 2010 | Eliza Doolittle | "Moneybox" | Jamie xx Remix |
| Glasser | "Tremel" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| Nosaj Thing | "Fog" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| 2011 | Adele | "Rolling in the Deep" | Jamie xx Shuffle |
| FaltyDL | "Hip Love" | Jamie xx Rework | |
| Holly Miranda | "Slow Burn Treason" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| Radiohead | "Bloom" | Jamie xx Rework Jamie xx Rework Pt. 3 | |
| Rui da Silva | "Touch Me" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| 2012 | Four Tet | "Lion" | Jamie xx Remix |
| The xx | "Reconsider" | Jamie xx Remix | |
| "Sunset" | Jamie xx Edit | ||
| 2013 | "Missing" | Jamie xx Remix |