Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Jamie Smith has just bought himself a kettle drum and is now officially the first prolific pannist, producer and remix artist in one. Jamie, who is the gray matter behind the beats of the XX, most definitely doesn’t really need to prove his aptitude after his production work for the much appreciated South London trio, the handful of chimerical remixes he did for the XX themselves and Glasser, and after of course putting out one of the best mixes anyone has recently done for the Parisian boutique Colette. He’s now focusing on a yet nameless solo project (although he implied that he’ll probably put out the tunes under his real name) that he will carry out on his own – the first song for this affair that was aired is Far Nearer (two days ago on Xfm’s “X-Posure”), a track that will see it’s release on Numbers soon. A track produced during one of his short breaks from touring and certainly one that hits the nail on the head. The track is quiet and serene, more up-tempo than we’re used to from his old work. It’s almost approaching the Burial angle as dreamy as it is but it’s just that little bit lighter; slowly opening with some steel pan and faultlessly translating into a slightly tropical and harmonious texture, this track takes you to equatorial places. It certainly has been done before and this and that but that doesn’t take away that this track is a shipshape listen, and that Smith knows how to treat the pans like a true Tobagan.

Stream:  [wpaudio url=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12432445/_jamie_xx__-__far_nearer_.mp3″ text=”Jamie Smith – Far Nearer” dl=”0″] (XFM X-Posure Rip)