“Gosh”

Jamie xx’s dance music uses nostalgia like an instrument; the halcyon days of rave’s first wave are always present, from titles (“All Under One Roof Raving”) to the choice of samples to his preference for breakbeats, but the references are never the whole point. His talent lies in his ability to take existing elements and put them in a context that feels both surprising and deeply personal.

“Gosh,” the monster opener from his upcoming album, In Colour, is a masterclass in doing a great deal with very little. The entire backing is basically just a few loops added one-by-one and tweaked, recalling an earlier age, when tracks were crunchy because samples were only 8-bits and loops were tight because there were only a few seconds of memory. Though each of the pieces—deep bass, hands-in-the-air percussion, “Oh my gosh” sample—locks into place perfectly, taking the music a few more inches off the ground with each bar, it’s the squelchy keyboard solo that lifts the celebration into the stratosphere. The “Where did that come from?” quality looms over this moment even after many plays, and the part’s ungainly beauty makes this gleaming mechanical creation sound warm and human, even modest, which is quite a trick for an anthem.