I’ve always thought of James Blake as a Dubstep/Electronica artist in the ambient vein of Fantastic Mr Fox and Mount Kimbie, however this record is somewhat difficult to classify.  Overall Dubstep has been diversifying of late, and I still feel that the genre has a long way to go.  As well as the heavier and weirder developments of the Bass and Tech-Step subgenres, there’s been an explosion of both ‘popular’ and ambient/electronica variants.

Whilst much of this is interesting, innovative music, Magnetic Man and others have earned the genre an unfair reputation for commerciality and blandness. One of the defining aspects of the genre for me is the cultural heritage of protest it shares with Drum and Bass, being British and borne of social alienation (although more centred around Croydon than Bristol).  I think it’s largely for this reason that I find the violent, angry element of both genres so important.  Drum and Bass came onto the scene around 20 years ago, and is still going strong.  Furthermore, I think Dubstep is beginning to prove itself the more versatile of the two.

Blake’s latest album has launched him to some notoriety, and in many ways he deserves it; this is undoubtedly a confident, somewhat unusual contribution to both the popular and ambient aspects of the genre.  The album features all the static-click percussive atmosphere of Fantastic Mr Fox and Mount Kimbie, along with his own catchy vocals- and they’re even full songs instead of mashed up samples.  The Feist cover ‘Limit to your Love’ is a particularly good exhibition of all of these qualities, and also features something which much of the album unfortunately lacks: BASS.  The brutal, almost atonal oscillation counterpoints the sparse beats and mournful vocals excellently, whilst the long, conspicuously radio-unfriendly silences are truly refreshing.

This is where my difficulty with the record lies however, as I’m left a little confused as to who it’s actually aimed at- the vocals are too saccharin for most except RnB fans, whilst the lack of bass on the majority will alienate still more people.  The vocoder/auto-tune on ‘Unluck’ in many ways spoils a really nice tune, and makes his debt to bland RnB all the more clear.  I actually quite like the elegiac, sparsely blues-infused overall feel of the record, and the production is undoubtedly very skilled, but it seems to aim at a more commercial audience in a way that I don’t necessarily like.  It’s certainly a long way from the aggressive roots of the genre, and a worrying stride towards dinner-table Dubstep.  I’m inclined to agree with Geoff Barrow of Portisheads’ caustic warning: “Will this decade be remembered as the Dubstep meets pub singer years?”