The eyes and ears of the music world are sharply tuned in on a 22 year old, London born, dub-step dj called James Blake. The hype that surrounds him stems from his standing as runner-up in the BBCs Sound of 2011 poll; a list of the years most promising up and coming artists. If the lists success rate is anything to go by (bands honoured on lists in years previous include Mumford and Sons, The Drums, Vampire Weekend, Bloc Party etc.) then Blake has a promising chance of making that break through.It all sounds to be working out ideally for Blake; but with all of this hype comes immense pressure. The release of his first album and several EPs over the past year has already garnered him such praise as, "few artists are stretching boundaries of dance music wider than he is right now", and "there really isn't anybody else making music like this" from Pitchfork.com.
One of the major things which will stand against the odds of Blake fulfilling his expectations is the publics acceptance of his "so called" dub-step approach to music. Dub- step is a genre of music/ lifestyle that the average radio listener will not be too familiar with. This style, that came to be in the late 90s, is a section of electronic dance music that relies heavily on extreme bass lines, drum patterns and usually sampled vocals. Dub- step is a fast evolving phenomenon with sub genres surging out constantly; connoiseurs refusing to remain stagnant on their methods of composition.
However, I cannot limit James Blake to this description nor class him in the same category as the rest of the typical dub or bro- step genres that I have heard. Although he assumes the role of producer behind his laptop and is a master at designing sounds, his music comes across as simple singer songwriter songs that are immersed in folk, R&B and gospel, but just translated through modern tools: sequencers, drum machines, vocoders and synths. As David Bevan of Pitchfork put it, "a modern homage to old ideas."
Blakes music is atmospheric, ambient, minimalist and solitary in enjoyment (the majority of people calling it headphone music). A dream like state is induced upon the listener by blurry voices that seem to float through your consciousness; intertwined with moments of sudden silence to bring us back around. David Bevan talks about a new vocabulary that is unfolding, "throughout a class of genres and sub genres, there seems to be a new musical vocabulary emerging, one centered around the way vocals are being manipulated to create moods and atmospheres defined by their amorphous, often special nature." This is typical of Blake.
The recent success story of The xx, indie pop/ post punk genre band, has paved the way for new, more alternative bands to follow. To be so successful on a large scale for such an extraordinarily unique and different style, not only shows Blake that he can achieve it, but also shows that todays listeners are more willing to open their minds/tastes/opinions and ears most importantly to newer sounds.
Likely vocal comparisons have been made to those of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons. All of these men have a serious ability at channeling deep and frail emotions through their fragilevoices; but Blake's talents far outreach just vocal tonality.
See if you believe the hype and check out two of the most popular tracks from his self titled debut album that was released just two days ago on the 7th of February. I have chosen, "Limit to Your Love" and "Wilhelms Scream".
