Skream - Outside the Box [2010] [Album]

Outside the Box is Jones' second album to date, following his self-titled 2006 debut. He's kept himself extremely busy in the years since that release, putting out dozens of 12-inches on Tempa, Tectonic and Non Plus among others, and playing gigs around the world as one of dubstep's biggest names. A notoriously prolific producer, he's already released a total of 81 tunes since 2003, and reportedly has around 20,000 more sitting on a hard drive in his studio, which is still located in his old bedroom at his parents' house in Croydon, England.

The record will feature a host of guest appearances, including vocals by rapper Murs and synthpop outfit La Roux, whose track "In For The Kill" made great remix fodder for Skream last year. Drum & bass artists D-Bridge and Instra:mental contribute as well, by co-producing the track "Reflections."

Tracklist
01. Perferated
02. 8 Bit Baby feat. Murs
03. CPU
04. Where You Should Be feat. Sam Frank
05. How Real feat. Freckles
06. Fields of Emotion
07. I Love The Way
08. Listenin’ To The Records On My Wall
09. Wibbler
10. Metamorphosis
11. Finally feat. La Roux
12. Reflections
13. A Song For Lenny
14. The Epic Last Song

Torrent:
Skream - Outside the Box [2010] [Album]

Skream makes a lot of tunes. His weekly radio show with partner-in-crime Benga on pirate station Rinse FM isn’t just the place to hear the latest dubstep; it’s a clearinghouse and testing ground for the duo’s latest creations. Blink and you’ll miss them: most of the tracks they play only see the light of day months later, if ever. Cannily, Skream’s recent Freeizm series has helped clear up his bottleneck of tracks awaiting official release, but it’s also served as a peace offering of sorts for people who’d otherwise dismiss his sophomore album “Outside the Box” as a sell-out move. It’s hard for DJs to complain about the man’s move towards pop when he just gave away nearly 20 hardcore tracks for free and a quick scan of Dubstepforum’s front-page reveals a surplus of good will towards the man, a rarity in a community that prizes underground credibility above all else.

With that in mind, it’s best to take “Outside the Box” as what it is: a post-Dubstep electronic pop album meant to expand Skream’s fanbase beyond the hardcore faithful. Skream doesn’t go outside the boxes so much as he checks them off: you’ve got your jungle tunes, your 2-step, your vocal pop, your synth-funk, your deep dubstep, your tear-out, etc. For the most part he succeeds, the only sour note being the anemic “8 Bit Baby” which suffers from a boring beat and worse verse from Murs.


Otherwise, “Outside the Box” is a great showcase for Skream’s adaptability behind the boards as he successfully twists different song-structure to his stylistic ticks. There’s just enough underground edge to pop tunes like “How Real” and “Finally” while the instrumental “Fields of Emotion” and “Reflections” are as dark and atmospheric as anything else out there these days. Compared to fellow Dubstep alumni Rusko who attempted a similarly diverse album earlier this year and strayed too far into electro territory, Skream’s pop turns here are admirably restrained, opening his sound up without reaching for David Guetta-level cheese. Even “The Epic Last Song” resists the urge to go into full on anthem territory, relying on junglist drums rather than cheap tricks to drive it forward.

It’s a delicate balancing act and one that’s representative of Dubstep as a whole in 2010: not quite fully mainstream but miles away from the near-empty underground clubs that birthed it and the cavernous sound that captivated early adopters. It remains to be seen if the album finds its audience: purists will quite possibly scoff, waxing lovingly about Mala’s “Return II Space” while pop fans may get turned off by metallic grind of “Wibbler” and the comparatively dark atmosphere. But that’s Dubstep’s secret in 2010: for every elitist and populist there seems to be five kids who like their music aggressive yet accessible, dark with touches of light, empty but percussive and underground but pop. “Outside the Box” is a victory for those kids and for a genre of music that’s gone far beyond the wildest expectations anyone had for it. Going on a decade since its humble roots, it’s getting harder and harder to keep this sound inside its box.