The dancefloor is unified when I. JORDAN is on the decks. On their long-awaited debut album, ‘I AM JORDAN’ - due out 10th May on Ninja Tune - the UK electronic producer gleefully celebrates collective ecstasy as a mode of self-discovery. “This album is about joy”, Jordan says. “It’s about my joy as a trans person, and trans joy generally, working with trans people, making all this fun music together.” With this goal, the record captures the bliss and dynamism of a wild I. JORDAN set. Using their decade of experience as a DJ and producer, there are giddy tributes to northern dance sounds like donk and hardstyle, euphoric trance and house, and plenty of space for exploration. Crucially, the record acts as a personal dance music diary, marking a period of upheaval.
The record’s lead single “Real Hot n Naughty '' features a vocal contribution from Sex Education actor and performer Felix Mufti, who has danced for Jordan at Glastonbury and Homobloc. Now friends, the two collaborated on “Real Hot n Naughty”, a queer dance track full of Scouse raps and endless charm.
“A large part of the reason why Felix and I instantly bonded is because of our queer working-class backgrounds, and our pride around that as well,” Jordan says. “Our aim with this track is to make a real queer northern dance anthem. A lot of working-class, northern humour is ‘things are a bit shit, but whatever. We’ll take the piss”.
The pair performed it together in an unplanned moment at the sold-out ‘I. JORDAN & Friends’ at Corsica Studios, a party with a majority trans lineup (Felix Mufti, Planningtorock, Romy, Sister Zo, FAFF, and Tee). There, Jordan was able to see a crowd that reflected their experiences.
The single arrives alongside a strikingly fun and joyful video. Directed by Elif Gonen, we see Jordan, Felix and friends transform a local bingo hall into a party with the local townspeople, celebrating the importance of community.
Speaking on the project Felix comments, “this celebration of our unhinged family is my proudest project to date. Told through a working-class lense that has defined so much of me and Jordan as artists, I couldn’t be happier to finally share this story with the world”
“We had the idea of doing the video in a bingo hall as it connected to our upbringing and spaces we spent a lot of time in when we were growing up” Jordan adds, “Sprucing them up and reclaiming them to be full of queer and trans joy felt important and symbolic to me as it connected two important parts of my identity that aren’t often merged together. We wanted to make something fun, cute and cheeky and fuck all the tories”.
Despite being self-titled, I AM JORDAN is a product of its community, as Jordan explains. “Everyone is interconnected, and the idea of being an individual is a bit of a myth…I wouldn’t be who I am without everyone else around me. My friends, especially friends who have supported me through all the transition stuff, my trans friends that I’ve relied on, Reddit groupchats - it’s all so important. In the trans community, none of us do this on our own.”