James Blake "James Blake"

"James Blake" is the first studio album by London-based electronic music producer James Blake. The album was released on his own label, ATLAS, and supported by A&M Records, on 4 February 2011. The album was preceded by the release of the single "Limit to Your Love" on 28 November 2010. The album received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize. A deluxe edition was released on 10 October 2011 with different artwork and a second disc, Blake's then-new EP "Enough Thunder", which was also released separately.

The album builds on the material released by James Blake as three EPs in 2010: "The Bells Sketch", "CMYK", and "Klavierwerke". All three EPs have different musical styles. Despite the amount of music released by James Blake in 2010, most of the material on his debut album is completely new. In interviews about the album, James Blake cited fellow Londoners the xx as an influence, saying that their success with their debut album made it easier for him and that listeners would be less shocked by his album.

James Blake said that a lot of the vocals on the album were by him, despite relying more heavily on samples in previous work. Before the album's release, James Blake was named in both BBC's "Sound of 2011" shortlist, and came second to Jessie J in the running for the BRIT Awards' Critics' Choice Award. The album is composed of tender torch songs, elegiac drifters, and soulful melodies. The album begins with "Unluck", a post-dubstep song with multi-layered vocals and distorted synths. The album also includes a minimalist dubstep cover of Feist's "Limit to Your Love" and a short piano ballad "Give Me My Month". The album's eighth track, "To Care (Like You)", showcases James Blake's use of pitch shifting, cutting-up, and layering his own vocals with quiet keyboards and a bass-heavy and percussive beat.