Photo: Suleika Müller
> Four years ago Loraine James released her debut album , Detail, to widespread critical acclaim, but it was her next album on Hyperdub, For You And I, that earned the London-based producer even more praise, including ‘album of the year’ in both DJ Mag and Quietus. Live gigs followed including headline shows and support slots for Telefon Tel Aviv, Jessy Lanza and Holly Herndon. Such is life, though, and just as you’re breaking through, a certain pandemic comes along and puts a halt to proceedings. But no matter. James has used the enforced lockdown to produce her finest album yet. Reflection is just that, a personal and honest journey produced “in a world that suddenly stopped moving”. It veers from an intriguing “Beach- Boys-in-space weightlessness” to tracks with just about any label you care to try and stick on them (trap? grime, electro, jazz? – “I don’t know”, she laughs) with many produced with various guest artists including Xzavier Stone and regular collaborator Le3 bLACK. Perhaps it’s the perfect way to get through enforced solitude: produce, produce, produce. And the best part of all? Reflection was done on a laptop with a whole bunch of free plugins…