American soul music has always moved the needle for British-born Jamie Lidell; it lives in the thick slices of ‘70s funk that drove his 2005 breakthrough, Multiply, and in the club-ready electronic beats of 2013’s Jamie Lidell, which was the first album he made after moving to Nashville from New York City. Building a Beginning is just that—a reflection of recent changes in Lidell’s professional and personal lives, starting with his departure from the Warp label and culminating in the birth of his son last year. With ample reason to celebrate, Lidell draws liberally from the summery, psychedelic-soul blueprint of vintage Stevie Wonder (particularly on “I Live to Make You Smile” and the spacey ballad “In Love and Alone”). Of course, it helps to surround yourself with ace musicians—especially background singers Kudisan Kai, Traci Brown Bailey and Tiffany Smith, who seem to feed off the elation, and drummer Daru Jones, whose mindboggling rhythmic sense on the upbeat “Julian” (named for Lidell’s son) and the stone-funky “How Did I Live Before Your Love” is downright Bernard Purdie-like. Happiness is a great motivator, and Lidell makes the most of it on his strongest set in a decade.