CLUBS

Whatever your take on the BBC Sound Of... polls, they’re fairly reliable when it comes to picking out future successes. Jamie Woon looks likely to follow in that lineage. Rory Gibb find out why.

Despite spending several years touring the acoustic scene, London singer Jamie Woon only started to attract popular attention after an unlikely alliance with the rising dubstep scene – a trend which peaked with a nomination for the BBC Sound Of… 2011. “It was pretty strange,” Woon admits. “I felt like a bit of a granddad amongst all the youngsters!” But the bonus was a sudden burst of love for his deft fusion of acoustic and electronic, which led to his highest profile UK tour yet, calling at Start The Bus.

The tide began to shift late last year with the release of his beguiling ‘Night Air’ single. Produced with assistance from Burial, it’s less dance track than particularly potent slice of nocturnal soul, Woon’s eerily pure voice cutting through a backdrop that’s all deep blue synth and drums that skitter like rain on rooftops. Ramadanman’s superb remix on the B-side connected Woon further still with the bass music world, setting his voice adrift, looped and lonely, above a slow-motion house groove. His debut album, released later this year, is due to explore similarly varied territory.

“It’s all quite layered and melancholy,” he reveals. “There’s a wide range of tempos on there, but it’s all pretty groove based, with r’n’b-ish vocals.”

While in the past he’s tended to perform solo, processing guitar and voice through loop and effects pedals to create dense whirls of melody, for this tour he’s put together a band to reflect the album’s more diverse sound. “It’s the first time I’ve played with a group of people for quite a long time,” he laughs. “It’s been quite different, leaving things in other people’s hands. I’m a bit of a control freak! But it does mean I’m singing much better, because I don’t have to concentrate so much on several things at once.”

He’s both flattered and slightly perplexed by his music being filed alongside artists like James Blake, though. “I can see where people are coming from,” he muses. “But I would never say I was making dubstep. I was definitely influenced by the electronic scene on this record, but it’s pretty far from actually being a dubstep album!”

That said, while Woon’s music is far more emotionally open, it’s certainly appropriately moody. Expect his Bristol show to be a triumph of soul and atmosphere, honed through years of experience.

JAMIE WOON PLAYED NO NEED TO SHOUT AT START THE BUS, BRISTOL ON SUN 20 FEB. FFI: WWW.JAMIEWOON.COM
 

Copyright Rory Gibb 2011

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