After three very well-received 12"s, James Blake finally drops his stunning self-titled full length debut. He already pushed forward-thinking music to the limit on the R&B sampling CMYK EP, then took it even further with the tweaked self-sampled vocals on Klavierwerke, and now the hyped 22-year old producer reveals the next step in his rapid musical evolution - using his own voice naturally! Yep, it's true. There's lots of raw singing on this record (to the dismay of strictly instrumental beats fans) and it is all very emotive and sincere. The dude is slowly transforming from straight up beat maker to full-on singer/songwriter, not an easy feat! As for the vibe, it's pretty consistent throughout, very deep and moody, kind of like Burial. For starters, check the catchy Feist cover "Limit To Your Love," then delve into album cuts like "Unluck," "The Wilhelm Scream," "Give Me My Mouth," "Measurements," and "To Care." This is the US release - with the same tracklisting (includes "Tep And The Logic" and "You Know Your Youth") - for those of you that missed out on the import version. Thick double LP pressing with gatefold cover. Recommended.

• music label: Polydor

reviewed by Von Bee 04/2011