Rating: NN
The centrepiece of this six-track EP by London-based producer/singer/songwriter James Blake is an effete, fluttering cover of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You, sung to piano accompaniment. Because the 22-year-old is best known for his cerebral, dubstep-inflected minimalist aesthetic, the song is noteworthy for its straightforward acoustic sound but otherwise limpid and precious.
There’s a frustrating dichotomy at work in Blake’s music. He composes rich, intimate electronic and acoustic soundscapes that suggest myriad emotions and intriguing songwriting possibilities. As a singer, however, he’s maudlin.
The more interesting moments on Enough Thunder occur in an abstract grey zone between pop and experimental but don’t veer too far in either direction, as when Blake drifts in and out of the spacious Not Long Now, or the enjoyably sluggish Auto-Tuned melody on Bon Iver collaboration Fall Creek Boys Choir.
Top track: Not Long Now
