Australian electronic music artist Jamie Stevens has embarked on a new era of his career with the release of his first solo album, Beginner’s Guide to Floating.
Renowned globally for his contribution to ARIA Award-winning group Infusion, Stevens has etched out a name for himself as an emotionally driven electronic producer who hits the heart of the listener. Now, after all the years of waiting, he presents a full-length solo effort characterized by atmosphere, emotional depth, and ageless sonic discovery.
The announcement follows a hectic summer for Stevens. In early summer, he played a revered live performance at Balance Croatia, where fans saw him dropping Hernán Cattáneo’s remix of his track Dust – with Cattáneo in attendance at the side. The moment had come full circle, as Stevens was previously invited to play live for Cattáneo’s huge Córdoba events in Argentina in front of 20,000 individuals, where he initially sampled some of the album’s content.
Stevens is well known for his success. Through Infusion, widely regarded as Australia’s equivalent of Underworld, he contributed to the formation of electronic music in the 2000s with singles such as Girls Can Be Cruel and album Six Feet Above Yesterday. The band toured the world, gracing legendary events such as Glastonbury, Coachella, Roskilde, and Creamfields. In his solo work, Stevens has appeared on some of electronic music’s most storied labels, ranging from Bedrock to Anjunadeep. But Beginner’s Guide to Floating represents a clear departure.
Unlike his club-friendly singles and remixes, this album is more sprawling, more conceptual. Stevens spent five years looking for the appropriate themes and feelings to pin the project to. Inspired by albums from labels like 4AD and Mute, and artists ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Max Richter, he wanted to create a body of work that listeners could experience start to finish. He drew on real instrumentation, working with collaborators including Skye Edwards (of Morcheeba), Wilma, and Brooke, weaving strings and vocals into lush electronic landscapes.
“I’d always wanted to release a solo album independently of Infusion, but it had to mean something really special to me,” Stevens said. “As a solo artist, I’m associated with club singles, but I wanted to try and discover themes and ideas which were like the albums that I came up hearing – albums which told diverse stories and formed who I was.”
The album is like a movie. Opener Erosa whets the appetite with gritty, ambient textures that nod to influences from Vangelis to Nils Frahm. Stay and Transference cross the line between progressive breaks and emotive electronica, while Calling All the Gods, which includes Skye Edwards, offers a soulful, bluesy highpoint. Other tracks, like Dust (feat. French for Rabids) and Haze, merge ethereal melodies with complex rhythms, demonstrating Stevens’ capability to combine nostalgia with innovative production.
Whereas much dancefloor fare might constitute a straightforward compilation of dancefloor material, Beginner’s Guide to Floating traverses a broad emotional landscape. Slivers of sadness, happiness, and wistfulness intertwine the record, encapsulating Stevens’ conviction that electronic music should seek out human experience as well as propel movement. The final tracks, from the playful Tassolem to the cello-slinging closer, return the listener quietly to earth, leaving only catharsis and contemplation.
For Stevens, the album is more about point of view than music. The very title of the album suggests an out-of-body experience – not flight, but a change of perspective that includes light and darkness. It’s a daring move for an artist who has spent his career prioritizing substance over flash, and it opens up a previously unseen level of depth in his work.
With Beginner’s Guide to Floating, Jamie Stevens solidifies his position as Australia’s most essential electronic voice – an artisan as adept at mobilizing bodies on the dancefloor as he is at provoking deeper feelings in moments of quiet.
Mia Brooks dives deep into the beats and rhythms of the music industry, covering everything from chart-topping albums to underground artists. With a passion for discovering new talent and exploring the stories behind the songs, Mia keeps readers updated on all things music.
