Jack Latham (Jam City)

Lux Laze

New London-based label, Utter, present some of the earliest recordings by Jack Latham a.k.a. Jam City in a remastered edition of his icy soundtrack to a sci-fi short film originally self-released by the director/producer, Daniel Swan on VHS and corresponding cassette in 2010.

The OST would have emerged just prior to Jam City’s ‘Classical Curves’ and we can pretty much hear the hyaline dimensions that would be explored in ‘Classical Curves’ come into being across its five tracks (including a bonus “lost” track not found on the original), as Latham constructs dreamy, floating worlds embedded in vast reverb structures and blooming bass radiation.

It’s easy to hear the tensions and economy of production palette that would come to define his later work, where he would consolidate a canny, mid-fi emulation of hi-end, cinematic sound design with eviscerated club dynamics. Yet there’s something deeply elusive, gossamer fine about these recordings that hold up on their own terms.