James Blake At Juno Download

Review: Only 21years old, yet already bearing his own singular sound and style, James Blake is clearly destined for greatness if this EP is anything to go by. A singer and producer, he's already delighted fans under his Harmonimix alias with his cover of Destiny Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills" and now takes his futuristic vision of R&B further, sampling old Kelis and Aaliyah tunes on the title track, mangling them beautifully. Reverbed and pitch-shifted, the vocals sit over a melancholy and glitchy beat. "Footnotes" uses vocoders with style and builds over time while "I'll Stay" brings out the samples again and chops them in an amazingly robotic fashion. This is very special stuff and despite a penchant for all things 90s R&B it still sounds vitally fresh.

Review: Having spent most of the year pushing the fragile downtempo sounds of his maudlin debut album, James Blake makes a belated return to the dancefloor with a three-tracker for R&S. "Love What Happened Here", the lead cut, is his most floor-friendly concoction since "CMYK". Most importantly, its got some real funk, wrapping his usual mutated vocals and hymn-like melodic motifs around thrilling space funk synths and skittering beats. "At Birth" is a touch more mournful, but cuts through the pianos and fuzzy vocal samples with a solid 4/4 pulse. An excellent EP is completed by "Curbside", a sleazy old skool hip-hop instrumental given Blake's usual twist. Impeccable.

Review: James Blake wisely returns to square one with Hemlock for a new two-tracker. It's a pleasing sign that he's not ready to get swept away on his own hype, and sure enough the tracks are wonderfully strange and dark. "Order" is little more than dry percussion lolling over hissing, distended hats and drones. "Pan" is more rhythmic, sharpening the ideas within into a clearer sonic image. There's something of a melodic note, and something of a breakdown midway through, but really this is avant-garde. It's a sterling reminder that Blake is an incredibly adventurous artist still finding his way.