Even if you know the work of British transplant Jamie Lidell, there’s still a good chance you don’t know all of it. From dance club features to big name collaborations to his own innovative solo albums, Lidell has been consistently active since breaking out with the duo Super Collider in 1999, but he’s shuffled in and out of the spotlight. His new album, Places of Unknowing, is his first solo LP in nearly a decade so there’s a whole generation who might need a little background and who he is, and what he’s done. We’ve gathered a dozen songs that give a condensed overview of the amazing output by one of Music City’s most under-appreciated polymaths.
Super Collider was the short-lived but influential duo Lidell formed with Crisitan Vogel in the late 90’s. NME called them “unarguably one of the most inventive and mind-bendingly exciting groups currently functioning in pop.”
Lo Fidelity All Stars emerged from the 90’s UK electronic scene that produced the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim. While they never achieved the same success as those artists, this early 00’s track builds a sonic bridge between Lidell’s experimental work with Super Collider and the more straight ahead funk and neo-soul that was soon to come in his solo career.
Technically Lidell’s second solo album for Warp, Multiply, the single and the album, introduced Lidell to a broader audience as well as creating opportunities for features and co-writes from fellow artists who fell in love with the record.
Through his collaboration and friendships with the artists Mocky, Gonzales and Feist, Lidell became an adjunct member of the early 00’s creative Canadian community, appearing on multiple records including Feist’s commercial breakthrough The Reminder. Here he shows off his pipes as more of a crooner, a skill that he would employ decades later on Places of Unknowing.
On JIM, his follow up to Multiply, Lidell sharpened his stylistic focus more on neo-soul and was sometimes listed alongside the UK resurgence of that sound during the Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson era. In the streaming era, “Another Day” has emerged as his most popular and playlisted track.
World Cafe called 2010’s Compass “a snapshot of an artist in flux.” The album featured Feist and Grizzly Bear‘s Chris Taylor. It was produced by Beck who co-wrote “Coma Chameleon,” which feels like an extension of his Midnite Vultures funk fascination.
As he continued to reinvent himself, Lidell released another “self-titled” record in 2013 (from JIM to Jamie Lidell) to announce a stylistic shift. As Lidell noted in a Consequence interview, some people misunderstood the album as a “thrown-together ’80s pastiche,” but 12 years on you hear a loving ode to an era that predates more recent explorations of that sound. This was also his first album made as a Nashville resident (moving into a house and studio formerly owned by Ben Folds).
After moving to Nashville, Lidell became even more active as a co-writer leading to a Grammy nominated track with UK artist Lianne La Havas.
Beyond co-writing, Lidell continued to score the occasional vocal feature, keeping his name alive in the dance and electronic world including this Juno-nominated song with producer A-Trak.
2016’s Building a Beginning saw Lidell extend his collaborative network to include famed bassist Pino Palladino, Wilco’s Pat Sansone, Jack White drummer Daru Jones and others who had worked with Miles Davis, Bill Withers and Chaka Khan. Lidell told Fader that this record was “shamelessly” influenced by Stevie Wonder, not just as a sonic touchpoint, but as a north star for expressions of “effortless joy.”
2016 to 2025 was the longest period between solo releases for Lidell but he continued working with others including Mura Masa, Allen Stone, Anderson East and RJD2, even earning space on a Kidz Bop release thanks to a song he cowrote for Hailee Steinfeld. He also contributed stand out tracks to two albums from former Nashville Artist of the Month Devon Gilfillian.
Once again Lidell reinvents himself on 2025’s Places of Unknowing. There’s little connection to the soul, funk and electronic of his past. Instead it’s a somber, sweeping orchestral exploration of grief and identity built by a community of classically trained collaborators who happen to be his neighbors. More on that soon.