James Blake - James Blake (Mancunion #7 Album of the Year)

Of all the things to have come out of the explosion of dubstep over the past few years, James Blake’s eponymous debut has to be the most unlikely. At the start of 2011, Blake was a 21-year-old popular music student from Enfield, releasing EPs of glitchy futuristic dubstep to a community of loyal fans. Despite alienating some dubstep purists, James Blake is an album of unexpected beauty and textural brilliance. His voice is fragile and soulful, carefully manipulated and seamlessly integrated into each track. From the earth-shattering drop of ‘I Never Learnt To Share’ to the delicate piano arrangement of ‘Give Me My Month’, it’s powerful, important, and sounds like nothing else in the world.

Listen: To Care (Like You), I Never Learnt To Share