James Blake first came onto the scene back in 2009 when well respected dubstep producer Untold released Blake’s first single on his own record label. And now, after a string of impressive EPs and a slew of blog hype, James Blake has finally delivered his first full-length effort, the self-titled James Blake LP.
But before I dive in let me help catch you up. 2010 saw the release of three EPs by the impressive young talent. The first to land was The Bells Sketch EP which established James Blake as one of the most inventive and skillfully adept pioneers active in dubstep. The Second EP, CMYK—an R&B vocal sampling masterpiece--revealed what many had already anticipated: James’ musical vision had begun to splinter free of dubstep and grow beyond the narrow constructs of this sub- genre. The final installment of Blake’s collection of EPs in 2010 was Klavierwerke, a unique blend of vocal samples (this time James Blake’s own) and intricate piano work. Klavierwerke was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and signified that Blake’s new output had evolved beyond the definitions of any one specific genre, including dubstep.
In less than two years James has transcended from pigeonholed dubstep obscurity into a modern blues inspired electronic producer, equally as competent at beautiful vocals as sonic manipulation. At twenty two, James Blake has seemingly already experienced a lifetime of musical maturation and a career’s worth of enthusiastic anticipation. But it all seems fitting; after all, nothing quite seems young about this twenty two year old UK producer. He wields the technical skills of a seasoned producer, boasts a voice that sounds more fitted to an elder statesman than that of a young eclectic singer, and crafts hooks that should have taken years and an accumulation of wrinkles to hone. Simply put: Blake’s toolbox is uniquely sufficient, especially for such a relative newcomer.
Blake’s debut full length James Blake is the culmination of all that’s happened to his musical palette over the last 24 months. All the paths and experiments have finally reached a head, a pinnacle, and it’s all been carefully filtered into this magnificent album.
While Blake’s earlier works pointed to a future album of exceptional quality, one would have been hard-pressed to expect that he would ever walk the path of singer-songwriter. Though this work shows James Blake currently has his eye on traditional song writing, it would be quite a stretch to say that he has turned his back on his more experimental dubstep roots. All the clicks, vocal manipulation, and bass-heavy studio tricks one would expect from Blake remain; but this time the listener is also treated to gorgeous arrangements, strong melodies, solid song development, and --yet even more alien to the realm of dubstep—substantial lyrical and vocal content.
While Blake’s new direction will come as a surprise to many, it really shouldn’t. The ever evolving nature of his past work should have more than prepared all of us to expect the unexpected. Still, this metamorphosis of Blake’s artistic direction might at first serve as a stumbling block to die-hard dubstep purists; but an out-right dismissal of the James Blake LP would be a regretful error on anyone’s part, perhaps even more so for those fervent genre elitists. Largely because Blake’s expansion in artistic range is paired with his most technically impressive studio performance to date--every dubstep tool in Blake’s belt has been refined ten-fold. For the listener, it will be immediately apparent that this record has been laboriously toiled over, not to mention delicately mixed with the utmost care. Every sound effect encountered inside is startlingly clean and surprisingly sharp, which results in an aesthetically beautiful piece of music. Needless to say, it’s one of those albums that really comes to life with the aid of headphones.
On his first long-player James Blake shows off a bit, utilizing every studio method and textural technique in his cook book. And we’re all the better for it. Blake, as done previously, uses silence as a tool in its own right. Not in some time has silence been used so effectively to push a piece of music along its intended progression. These pitch black silences are peppered throughout with such restrained perfection that the undeniably visual aspects of the tracks manifest themselves almost effortlessly. Blake also has this clever knack of using distortion and cacophony to mirror what is going on lyrically within the context of a song. This is an extremely effective device seen throughout the James Blake LP. Blake brilliantly uses sound to augment the meaning behind his lyrics. This is no more apparent than within the track “The Wilhelm Scream,” where the lyrics "I’m falling, falling, falling, falling, mine as well fall in" are paired with a disorienting white noise that hurtles the listener into the unknown depths of Blake’s mind.
Intrinsically, the product here is simultaneously contemporary and classical. In fact, much of James Blake comes of like a post-modern classical piece set to lyrics born of gorgeous vocals. But subjectively, James Blake feels like the exhibition of an artist coming to terms with the limitations of his youth. Though as an audience we are blissfully ignorant to what these limitations could possibly be.
Starting at track eight, “To Care (Like You)," James Blake really begins to open up a bit, becoming increasingly more experimental and fragmented. This segment of the album leans more toward the avant-garde side of Blake’s skill-set. This portion is where die-hard James Blake fans will most likely find tunes more akin to their liking.
While there is little wrong with James Blake, I do have a few notes that concern its shortcomings. I would have to say that I found this record, on the whole, much less ambitious than most of Blake’s back catalog. In fact, this misstep might be the only facet that genuinely disappointed me throughout. Furthermore, James Blake often comes across more like a collection of songs (although they often share a similar tone and mood) rather than one consistent fully formed album. But perhaps Blake’s genius is more aptly displayed in four to five minute snippets than in the full hour or so allowed by most records. Still, I for one would like to see Blake bridge the gap between great song artisan and concept album composer. If Blake could stretch his abilities more cohesively over the full expanse of an album it would be an excellent advancement for his next work. Who knows maybe this would be the last step necessary in order to create that ‘perfect’ album.
Pealing back the layers of this LP, while a much easier ask than most dubstep inspired works, is a necessary prerequisite to unearthing its value. After one has given the album its due (four focused listens or more), it is hard to imagine how one could not find at least something to appreciate within James Blake—James simply does too many things far too well on this album for them all to be ignored.
After his first full-length record what can we now surmise about James Blake? Well, he still remains that young UK producer that can create some of the most other-worldly atmospheres experienced in the modern musical landscape. Only now, he has also shown us that he is equally adept at manufacturing ballads with traditional structures as he is at tweaking beat driven songs inspired by the club-scene. It's now blatantly obvious, James Blake is only getting better with time. His constant transformations from one moment to the next keep us perpetually guessing what and where he might end up. I could not be more excited to see what the future holds for this refreshing prodigy. But one thing is for certain, on his full-length debut James Blake has provided us with an elegant album worthy of serious attention.
Comments