REVIEWSJames Blake, ‘Enough Thunder EP’

8

• SPIN Rating:8 of 10

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Release Date: December 31, 1969
Label: Universal Republic

Even before James Blake's 2011 debut album, he stood accused of losing his edge as he moved from dubstep maven to cerebral crooner. Haters still wanna hate on this new EP's Bon Iver collabo, "Fall Creek Boys Choir," 'cause it's what -- not catchy enough? Fuck that. Like the rest of the jams here (hellloooo, Joni Mitchell cover), that track is menacingly whacked, even if, or perhaps especially because, its clipped bits of Auto-Tune aren't trying to lend themselves to a Skrillex remix. So yeah, these six songs might be sketches, but they're James Blakean sketches -- spooky, tweaky, and full of Grandma's haunted piano.