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Outside The Box
Tempa
myspace.com/skreamuk

So much has been written about Skream in the past couple of years that it’s hard to type words that don’t re-hash a multitude of already worn metaphors and showering of praise. However, the Croydonite producer who has spearheaded the rise of dubstep into the mainstream thanks in no small part to his remix of La Roux and subsequent release as part of Magnetic Man, deserves all the accolades he gets.

His second album, Outside The Box, holds a variety of styles and shows that he’s willing to go beyond what’s expected of him and branches away from dubstep, brushing with bass-heavy hip hop on 8 Bit Baby featuring Living Legends’ Murs. There are 2-step vibes on one of the stand-out tracks of the album How Real featuring the vocal talents of Freckles and even shades of Jungle on dance-floor banger Listenin’ To The Records On My Wall which is sure to be a set-smasher for a very long time to come.

Being able to mix the minimal style that made his In For The Kill remix so potent as he does on the tracks Finally [which features the red-headed Brixtonite] and I Love The Way in with the straight-up wobbling volume of Wibbler shows his dexterity and prowess around all things beat-led. Finishing the album with a track entitled The Epic Last Song could have been a good way to shoot himself in the foot, but the jump-up nature of it ensures that Outside The Box finishes on a huge high.

It’s not a perfect album, there are a few lapses, but even when a tune isn’t as great as those that surround it, the production skills of Skream are still to be marveled at. Who knows what’s next for him, but right now, this record is sure to get toungues wagging and feet pounding.

Abjekt

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