Born in India, raised in Australia and currently based between New York and London, producer and singer Jitwam makes music that reflects a life on the move. Jazz-inflected grooves combine with head-nodding hip-hop beats, R&B vocals and snatches of chatting passersby to create a mood music made between spaces.
On his first EP, TJD001, released in 2013, Jitwam’s pitched-up croon and ambient backing positioned him alongside the atmospheric soul of British singer Jai Paul. But it was 2017’s WhereYouGonnaGo? that first saw Jitwam formulate his own jazz-dance sound, placing his falsetto over a shuffling house beat and improvised piano line. His albums, 2017’s Selftitled and 2019’s Honeycomb, delved further into this dancefloor kineticism, with tracks such as Temptations and Opendoors adding a breezy 70s funk reminiscent of the Isley Brothers.
“When I look back at my music, I see a lot of transience in it,” Jitwam told Bandcamp. “There’s a word for it: hypnagogic, it’s a state between dreaming and being awake.” On his latest album, Third, Jitwam finally makes his mainstream breakthrough, releasing for the first time on a big independent label, Warp. Here he fully inhabits the gauziness of that inbetween state, from the sultry introspection of Equanimity to the spaced-out guitar jam of Maryjane. Third is so-called not just because it’s a third album but because it reflects the experiences of a third-culture kid; the disparate sounds and influences absorbed from the places Jitwam has lived and all given unity through his own voice.
Third is out now on Warp
