Jamie Lidell steps off the tourbus in Bordeaux...White, British and rather sleepy looking, he does not look like someone about to release one of the biggest soul albums of 2008.

The New York Times take Jamie out for margaritas and Mexican food...

Pitchfork catch up with Jamie at his hotel while staying in New York... watch out for dancing on the tables.

Jim is the sound of an artist really bedding into his sound: a beautifully concise suite of confident, heartfelt pop-soul that perfectly walks the line between saleability and credibility.

Some people, it would seem, were born onstage. Certainly, to see Jamie Lidell in such a context is to witness him in his element. When last seen touring, he liked to parade around clad in smoking jacket and scarf getting his night talk on like he was hosting your local R&B FM station's "Between The Sheets." But to simplify his act to the tongue-in-cheek vanilla version of Barry White would be to underestimate - nay, misunderstand - him.

He's an electronic wizard with a perfect voice - so is Jamie Lidell a scientist or soulboy?

Lidell is a music nerd who turned into a showman. His new album, JIM, combines technical wizardry and soul vocals. He could be a British Gnarls Barkley.

JIM is Lidell's most immediate work yet, but in the spirit of His Majestic Purplitude, Lidell refuses to be pinned down

As the UK's unlikely soul man NUMBER 1, you should call Jamie Lidell 'JIM'. But that's just him in his friendly musical suit...

Having already completed the treacherous shift from IDM sound sculptor to neo-soul singer, Jamie Lidell is about to endeavor upon something even more dangerous. He's going to lead a band.

Is it possible he's the British Prince?

Jamie Lidell rocks. It's plain, simple and true.

I'm proud of the songs because they show me as the person I am. Jim, the guy that makes optimistic music, the songsmith, I just really needed to get that out of my system

Some people don't like it when you're showing one side of yourself. That's one of the reason's I called this album 'Jim', because I made a conscious effort to focus one part of myself, one of my multiple fictions. Just put him in a room and let him go crazy, write his album. I am Jim, Jim is me, and this is his album.

With Mocky and Gonzales on board, Lidell had a "dream team" in place, and Jim triumphs as a result of the group's collaborative effort.

Who are your influences? Er you - Urbanplanet.co.uk, Ferrari's, Maseraties, the Hercules 15, the vacuum cleaner; preferably 150 watts, my left CC speaker and Kylie Minogue - essentially: With a few others thrown in the works. Oh and Best British male, I'm influenced by their work ethic.

While the influences that infused Multiply are still present and correct on Jim, it's a bolder, more promiscuous and diverse album, with jamie restlessly shifting across gospel, disco and even folk, and that chunk of 'hillbilly funk' thrown in for good measure.

Est-il le nouveau Amy Winehouse?

I've always been into soul, but you have to choose what you release. Electronic music can easily be released on a white label. I was a soul man with Super_Collider but it was Sex Machine meets Man Machine, and now it's just Sex Machine...

Berlin is cheap and chilled with all the trappings of a big city

Merging electronic beats and sounds with those of classic soul, Lidell has created a new future-retro R&B that simultaneously evokes and revitalizes the sound of a bygone era.

Jamie discusses creating Multiply and jams with The Guardian's Pascal Wyse.

His new album, Multiply (released on Warp), is an energetic hybrid of southern soul and electronica with the occasional analogue boost.

I'm a one man funk tornado and I've got to keep up my reputation!

I decided to stop hiding behind sheets of metaphor. I just wanted to see if I could condense a message into these little nuggets.

It always comes down to one album for me, and thats 'There's A Riot Goin' On'... It always gives me that crazy thrill. I love Sly Stone and those guys - they were able to feel the love.

Who is he? Where does he come from? What does he sound like? What makes him special?

My live show is about shaking up the electronic music scene

I might define myself as a dazzling one-man funk barrage. No, no, no... I'm an arse on fire with a flapping blazing batty stirring up a blitz of shit chardged-mega chunks of an unearthly glow.

That is when I can dig into the live shows, and pull something out of me and resolve it in an abstract way. It is a wicked therapy. Music is a vehicle for transformation.