-
10.0
20741
10.0 |
The Skinny
Sublimely atmospheric and accomplished
Read Review
-
10.0
20268
10.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
It’s a desperately lonely set of songs that will certainly take time to settle, but there could be no better time to start doing so than the dead of winter
Read Review
-
10.0
21260
10.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
It’s a gauzy, overflowing mass of emotion, done in a new and inventive manner. James Blake is an essential for anybody interested in witnessing how pop music can and will continue to change, progress, and grow into something new with time
Read Review
-
10.0
21495
10.0 |
Evening Standard
There'll be little else as original or as wonderful released this year
Read Review
-
10.0
21530
10.0 |
Independent on Sunday
If all you've heard is the single "Limit to Your Love", the most conventional moment here, you won't be prepared for this extraordinary record
Read Review
-
10.0
23774
10.0 |
A.V. Club
James Blake is dubstep’s crossover moment
Read Review
-
9.0
22760
9.0 |
FasterLouder
11 intimate, lovingly-crafted songs. All the noise is left outside. The result takes time to gets its hooks in; and even then its grip is ethereal
Read Review
-
9.0
21714
9.0 |
Pitchfork
Gorgeous, indelible tunes that are as generous in content as they are restrained in delivery
Read Review
-
9.0
22055
9.0 |
No Ripcord
An absolute treat for the ears
Read Review
-
9.0
21533
9.0 |
The Observer
Rather than batter listeners with bass, as he used to do in his DJ sets, Blake has chosen to stun with silence on what is, in essence, a piano-and-voice record for the 21st century
Read Review
-
9.0
20263
9.0 |
Clash
[The] understated flow may wrong-foot hype seekers, but just permit the beautiful structures to bubble over your ears as his warbled, testing vocals chase silence around
Read Review
-
8.5
20864
8.5 |
BBC
Each playback draws the listener in closer towards to the record’s core, like a dimmer switch being raised incrementally – a true beauty to behold
Read Review
-
8.5
21566
8.5 |
Consequence Of Sound
He achieves a lot with a little. He never gives us filler. He continues to innovate
Read Review
-
8.0
21577
8.0 |
PopMatters
Every bit as challenging, forward-thinking, and interesting as those previous EPs
Read Review
-
8.0
21589
8.0 |
DIY
There is plenty of room for him to grow and improve yet, but this is a fine place to start, to say the least
Read Review
-
8.0
21641
8.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
Excitingly hypnotic and spaced out in a good way
Read Review
-
8.0
21541
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
Blake’s musical alchemy can be capable of matching the urban, nocturnal beauty of vintage Massive Attack
Read Review
-
8.0
21554
8.0 |
Bowlegs
It is clear these songs work together to push the boundaries, to work the listener and to let you into the introverted world of James Blake
Read Review
-
8.0
22398
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
Silence never sounded so spine tinglingly good
Read Review
-
8.0
22039
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
[An] uncommonly powerful album
Read Review
-
8.0
22842
8.0 |
Spin
Using lo-fi digital techniques to play up rough edges and raw emotion, Blake's rare talent is to make music so naked seem unshakable
Read Review
-
8.0
23813
8.0 |
Rave Magazine
The production values are, of course, gorgeous – each element precisely placed, lots of silence for contrast – but songwriting seems to elude Blake for the moment
Read Review
-
8.0
20877
8.0 |
Mojo
His strikingly sumptuous debut album has some real surprises in store. Print edition only
-
8.0
20888
8.0 |
Uncut
A daring and confident modern blues effort. Print edition only
-
8.0
20894
8.0 |
Q
Confirms him as a unique talent. Print edition only
-
8.0
20595
8.0 |
musicOMH
It's gorgeous and it's the sound of a producer at the very top of his game
Read Review
-
8.0
21452
8.0 |
The Guardian
Music that sounds utterly of the moment, in that you struggle to imagine it being made at any point in time before now
Read Review
-
8.0
21513
8.0 |
The Fly
Bewitching 4am soul pop for Generation xx
Read Review
-
8.0
21527
8.0 |
Entertainment.ie
Though he occasionally seems to be purposely and sometimes unnecessarily challenging his listeners, Blake's flair for invention is always admirable and oddly endearing
Read Review
-
8.0
21345
8.0 |
State
Nothing will ever sound like James Blake again so drink it all in, every note and every ear-splitting silence
Read Review
-
8.0
21436
8.0 |
The Irish Times
There will be other albums to champion in 2011, but few will be as ambitious or audacious as this
Read Review
-
7.0
20988
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
The main niggle is that the whole thing is a bit on the short side
Read Review
-
7.0
21579
7.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
An album that displays frequent flashes of brilliance so bright that they simply cannot be ignored
Read Review
-
6.0
21646
6.0 |
The Scotsman
What comes through loud and clear is that the best song he has to offer is a cover version
Read Review
-
6.0
22652
6.0 |
Under The Radar
Despite talk of his status as “post-dub step,” at heart Blake is a soul man
Read Review
-
6.0
21341
6.0 |
The Quietus
Dance music for bedwetters
Read Review
-
6.0
21444
6.0 |
The Independent
For a songwriter, it's not good that the best lyric on the album is the cover of Feist's "Limit to Your Love"
Read Review
-
6.0
21372
6.0 |
NME
'James Blake' is too calculated an act of daring to really shine
Read Review
-
5.0
21389
5.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Boldness, you realise, is not the same thing as greatness, and James Blake is not a great album
Read Review
-