Review: James Blake’s James Blake

It’s hard to describe exactly what kind of music James Blake creates – his wikipedia page describes his music as “post-dubstep” and “minimal techno”.  However, his signature electronic/R&B sound defies even these loose genre lines.  Add Blake’s soulful crooning, and his debut album James Blake manages to be a unique listening experience.  It’s a very atmospheric record, filled with minimalistic soundscapes, and synth-treated, sometimes even auto-tuned vocals.  It’s an intimate record in a way that nothing released in the past few years is.

The hype for Blake began last year, when he released three critically acclaimed EPs.  With each, Blake seemed to grow in popularity, going from a little-known Electronic music composer to a real up and comer in the genre.  Famous BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe called his single (and Feist cover) “Limit To Your Love” the Hottest Record in the World in September 2010.  “Limit To Your Love” is an interesting, subdued twist on the Feist version – it starts out the same way, with a piano and vocals – but soon morphs into something entirely different.  Blake sings the song’s verses over a warbling synth and a “boom-bap” electronic drum beat.  It’s definitely a song that shows off the unique dynamic Blake has in his music – and although it’s not the best song on James Blake, the amount of attention he got from it before the album’s release is well deserved.

The real centerpiece of the album is “Lindisfarne” a two-part song that shows the real versatility of Blake as a songwriter and vocalist.  The first part consists solely of Blake’s vocals, treated with an almost metallic sounding synth and autotune.  The melody of the first part of the song is good enough as it stands to be enjoyed as a single track, but the second part’s quiet finger-picked acoustic guitar frames Blake’s vocals stunningly.  The composition of “Lindisfarne” stands out so well from the rest of the album, because it manages to be minimalist yet still be layered in an interesting way.  It’s a song that is very successful at creating a mood and punctuating it in a very subdued (yet emotionally fulfilling) manner.

“The Wilhelm Scream” is the second single from the record, and another standout track.  At it’s heart, it sounds like an R&B song – the melody invokes contemporary music of that genre – but the instrumentation is, of course, something entirely different.  It starts out with Blake and a synthesizer before more and more layers are added in and the song grows in loudness.  The song’s climax occurs midway through the song when the main drum beat drops out, and Blake’s synth overtakes the rest of the instruments on the track.  Soon, the drum beat comes back, but each hit causes a swarm of static.  The song builds up in the best possible way, and ends up sounding like a storm slowly growing in strength and power.

The album also features a few songs that consist of only Blake’s voice and piano: “Give Me My Month” and “Why Don’t You Call Me” are beautiful interludes in between the electronic stuff, and they’re much more memorable sandwiched in between two tracks that sound nothing like them.

What’s most impressive about James Blake is its dynamic songs – most parts of the songs on it go on for just the right amount of time before something changes and makes it interesting again.  And while there are a few tracks that aren’t as effective as others (“I Mind” is not nearly as musically interesting as some of the other tracks, for example) for the most part, the album works well.  It’s a unique work that could be very well end up being influential to a lot of musicians, and I think that’s the mark of a great album.

Rating: 9.0

Listen To: “Lindisfarne”/”The Wilhelm Scream”/”Give Me My Month” (Also, this live recording is a great introduction to his work).