Music discovery · Influence explorer

Artists like Jamie xx — and the music that made them

Electronic/UK Garage · 2009-present

Electronic pioneer weaving house, garage, and indie into transcendent dancefloor magic

Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx, is the electronic mastermind behind The xx who transformed from indie band member into one of Britain's most innovative solo producers. His genre-blending approach seamlessly merges UK garage, house, and ambient textures with pop sensibilities, creating deeply emotional dance music that works equally well in clubs and headphones.

Essential tracks

►Gosh

►I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)

►Loud Places

Did you know

He sampled a 1990s answering machine message from his friend for the intro to 'Gosh'

His remix of Gil Scott-Heron's 'I'll Take Care of U' led to a full collaborative album with the legendary poet

He taught himself production by making beats on his laptop in his university dorm room at Elliott School

“Melancholic house beats meet UK garage rhythms in sublime electronic poetry.”

generations
of influence

Influence tree

Trace Jamie xx's roots back through history

Every sound has a source. Click any node to hear the connection.

Jamie xx

2009-present

Burial

2006-present

cited

Four Tet

1997-present

cited

Aphex Twin

1985-present

sonic

Goldie

1992-present

movement

Photek

1992-present

movement

Roni Size

1993-present

movement

Larry Levan

1970s-1992

movement

Brian Eno

1970-present

sonic

↑ Click any influence node to see the connection and where to start listening.

What makes the sound

Sonic elements

UK garage rhythms

Melancholic house progressions

Organic sample manipulation

Sparse minimalist arrangements

Start with these tracks

Gosh

I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)

Loud Places

Sleep Sound

If you like Jamie xx, try these

Four Tet

Shares organic textures and emotive electronic compositions with folktronic elements.

Blends post-dubstep electronics with indie sensibilities and intricate sound design.

Combines dance music with indie pop songwriting and rich melodic textures.

2000s · Indietronica

Disclosure

Masters UK garage revival with house influences and sophisticated production techniques.

2010s · UK Garage

Key influences explained

Burial

Jamie Smith's atmospheric approach to electronic music draws heavily from Burial's pioneering work on 'Untrue,' particularly the use of pitched vocal snippets and crackling vinyl textures that create emotional depth. The way Jamie xx layers ghostly vocal fragments over minimal beats, especially on tracks like 'Gosh,' directly echoes Burial's technique of using R&B and garage vocal samples as melodic instruments. This influence taught Jamie xx how silence and space could be as powerful as the beats themselves.

Gil Scott-Heron

The collaboration with Gil Scott-Heron on 'We're New Here' fundamentally shaped Jamie xx's understanding of how electronic production could serve as a reverent dialogue with hip-hop and soul history. Scott-Heron's spoken-word delivery over Jamie's subdued, jazz-inflected beats demonstrated how restraint and respect for the source material could create something entirely new. This project established Jamie's template for honoring influences while transforming them through his distinctive minimalist lens.

Four Tet

Kieran Hebden's approach to organic textures within electronic frameworks provided Jamie xx with a blueprint for making dance music that breathed with human imperfection. Four Tet's albums like 'Rounds' showed how field recordings and acoustic instruments could be woven into electronic compositions without losing their natural character. Jamie xx adopted this philosophy of warm, tactile production, evident in how he processes live drums and incorporates environmental sounds throughout 'In Colour.'

Context

Jamie xx emerged from the post-dubstep UK underground of the late 2000s, where producers were deconstructing garage, jungle, and UK funky into more spacious, emotionally resonant forms. As part of The xx, he helped define the 'chillwave' aesthetic that dominated indie culture around 2010, but his solo work pushed deeper into the UK's dance continuum. His production style bridges the gap between the introspective indie electronic scene and the UK's bass music heritage, drawing from both the restraint of ambient techno and the rhythmic complexity of UK garage. This positioned him uniquely within London's diverse electronic ecosystem, where bedroom producers were increasingly engaging with club culture.

Legacy

Jamie xx's influence reverberates through the current generation of producers who blend indie sensibilities with dance floor functionality, from Ross from Friends to DJ Seinfeld. His approach to sampling—treating source material as sacred while completely reimagining its context—has become a template for respectful musical archaeology in electronic music. The emotional weight he brings to minimal arrangements has influenced how contemporary artists approach vulnerability in dance music.

Why it matters

Understanding Jamie xx's influences reveals how his seemingly effortless minimalism actually represents a careful synthesis of UK underground traditions with indie rock's emotional directness. His ability to make dance music that works equally well in headphones and on sound systems comes from studying how his influences balanced intimacy with physical impact. Recognizing these lineages helps listeners hear the deep intentionality behind arrangements that might otherwise seem simply 'chill' or atmospheric.

About this page

Music like Jamie xx — Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx, is the electronic mastermind behind The xx who transformed from indie band member into one of Britain's most innovative solo producers. His genre-blending approach seamlessly merges UK garage, house, and ambient textures with pop sensibilities, creating deeply emotional dance music that works equally well in clubs and headphones.

Artists like Jamie xx today include Four Tet, Burial, Mount Kimbie, Bonobo. If you enjoy Jamie xx, these artists share similar sonic qualities, influences, and emotional range.

Bands like Jamie xx and songs like Jamie xx are among the most searched music discovery queries — rootz.guru goes deeper by tracing the roots of the sound itself, not just surface-level similarity.