Jamie Isaac, the South London maverick hosting his own brand of chilled-out tracks, has revisited his much-praised debut album Couch Baby – an album that’s completely mellow, and the king of the hill in terms of ambient releases in recent times. In taking a look back at the quintessential summertime LP, Couch Baby (Revisited) brings in Jamie Isaac’s own cover of an Alicia Keys track, and re-worked tracks featuring artists including Allan Kingdom and Salomon Faye. Adding a cherry on top of this dynamic extension to an already outstanding album, Isaac bundles in Rejjie Snow for a collaborative reform of ‘Last Drip’.
Stretching to 17 tracks, Couch Baby (Revisited) builds on the urban-ified jazz incessantly present on the original version. Taking the native 12 songs into this new release, Jamie Isaac lays the foundations for his alternative stylistic tastes to take to the frame. The contrast between blissful numbers like ‘Find The Words’ and the indulgent interlude nestled in between ‘Beauty’ and ‘Pigeon’ goes to show the scope of the South Londoner’s masterly skill of transgressing genres seamlessly.
As the more down-beat and electronic elements of Couch Baby loosen through the album’s progression into heavier tracks like ‘All My Days’ and ‘She’ll Always Close In’, the transition between the reformed and the retained is bridged by the album’s outro. The delicacy of Isaac’s debut is maintained with his smooth cover of Alicia Keys’ ‘Un-thinkable’, though this new addition slots in trip-hop style underlays and once again showcases Jamie Isaac’s ear for different genres.
In designing his new version of ‘CNT U SEE’, Jamie Isaac sought the help of Wiki & Denzel Curry to chuck a few verses over the top of the slow jazz vibes of the original. Even stating so himself in a brief biographic documentary for The Fader, Isaac acts more as a producer, and through the medium of a remixed set of album tracks, he more than fulfils this role by incorporating some of the hottest rappers about to contrast the dulcet mix of Couch Baby.
‘Beauty’ sees a two-fold increase in Isaac’s veritable display of summertime tracks as he hustles a few bars from Allan Kingdom and Sporting Life alongside his own slacker tones, while ‘Find The Words’ recruits Salomon Faye, who diminishes the vocal responsibility from Isaac with his monotonous verse. Rounding off Couch Baby (Revisited), Jamie Isaac brings in musical comrade Rejjie Snow to showcase his old school hip-hop bars to close off the 17 track strong release that appeals to, and creates, a cotched audience.
Pre-order Couch Baby (Revisited) here, and cop a ticket for Jamie Isaac’s short UK tour, with shows in Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, and Manchester, here.
Words by Jasmin Robinson
