Artists You Should Listen to if You Like James Blake

Hometown: London

Not long ago Sampha was generally better known for his collaborations with SBTRKT than anything else, but since his recent feature on Drake's "The Motion" and the Dual EP that's just out on Young Turks, Sampha is suddenly a name on everyone's lips. Where Blake experiments with offbeat production, Sampha's is generally more straightforward and soulful, but just like James Blake he's a producer as well as a singer, he makes great use of keys in his music, and he is really rather fantastic.

Hometown: London

If you prefer a bit more traditional structure than a James Blake record promises, Burial-collaborator and attendee of the famed BRIT School Jamie Woon holds the keys. Though he only has one record, 2011's stellar Mirrorwriting, to his name, Woon's ability to craft soundscapes at turns both haunting and oddly infectious for his wispy, effortless croon to inhabit, marked him as a talent to watch. His songwriting sets him apart from electronic soul noodlers, a combination of incisive personal commentary and world-weary observation. Woon has fits of experimentation, but remains, on the whole, more ordered (and, often, more satisfying) than Blake.

Hometown: Kent, UK

Maths Time Joy takes soul to places that it was never meant to be taken. It's almost hard to justify, because soulful music should be human and reflective of some kind of inner spirit that only a human being can create. But in a world of internet and emojis, things are getting more complicated, and so is soul. James Blake is a master at using electronic manipulations in a context that feels natural, and Maths Time Joy achieves the same with "Closure."

Hometown: London

One of James Blake's greatest skills is his ability to imbue ghostly electronic landscapes with passion and personality through his wonderful vocals. Vicktor Taiwò has the very same ability, filling his spacious productions with gritty downcast soul. With the addition of rapper Solomon on "Digital Kids," he's made an all UK version of Blake and RZA's "Take A Fall For Me."

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

While the U.S. might not be as hot a breeding ground for James Blake-esque artists as London, Nashville's Basecamp may lead by example in a new wave of American artists blending Blake's taste for R&B influences and electronic aesthetics. The trio's arresting single "Emmanuel" signals them as a promising production and songwriting force, capable of reigning in sounds that could easily spiral off into abstraction and crafting a fulfilling package that still finds time to tack on the sorts of subtle bells and whistles that will please Blake fans.

Hometown: Helsinki

In some of his most powerful moments, James Blake is cold and distant. Even his most intimate, stripped down songs feel reserved and withdrawn, and Finnish duo Redder captures that same spirit with a sparse mixture of electronic and organic elements. "Faster" builds to a soulful, moving peak, but it's still a reserved piece of music, something that James Blake is a master of.

Hometown: London

On James Blake's stunning second album, Overgrown, the lyrics were more clear, more open, and more direct than on his debut album. Tackling universal subjects like love and loss head on, he made an album that people could identify with on many levels, and Deptford Goth has done exactly the same thing on his debut album Life After Defo. Daniel Woolhouse, the man behind Deptford Goth, is an engaging, emotionally honest lyricist, one who does not seek to hide behind his synthesizer based productions. He's a man whose home-recorded confessions and odes to uncertainty, whilst initmately personal, are also ultimately relatable.

Hometown: London

Jamie Isaac is a former King Krule collaborator whose gorgeous, spacious, mature music well and truly belies his lack of experience. Though still a teenager, Isaac appreciates and embraces space and little moments of silence in his electronic production—those same pauses that Blake used to such great effect—especially on his debut album. Isaac's whole debut EP is impressive (listen below), and if he builds on the early promise that he's shown, who knows how far he could go.

Hometown: London

The sounds of the wonderfully named, wonderfully talented Fantastic Mr Fox will appeal to those who most enjoy Blake's instrumental productions, EPs like CMYK and The Bells Sketch. Some of Fantastic Mr Fox's recent output has had more of straightforward deep-house feel, but he can also make gloriously glitchy collages of chopped up vocal samples and synth washes, with songs like "Evelyn" standing as some of his most impressive work.

Hometown: London

While Kwabs' music isn't necessarily cut from the same cloth Blake's in terms of overall aesthetic (he skews a bit more traditional), the British singer struck us first and foremost as Blake's low-note on "Overgrown" personified, a bass-heavy voice like a force of nature slicing right to the listener's heart. Single "Spirit Fade" is the sort song that transcends whatever genre descriptors might struggle to properly portray it. Certainly it's soul music, but more because it grapples with self-doubt and seems to come from a place of very real feeling than because of sonic signifiers. Kwabs' voice is a unique gift, a powerful instrument capable of imbuing even Blake's words with new depth.

Hometown: London

Though producer Pedestrian's sound primarily lands in the deep house lane, the London producer's penchant for atmospheric accents and aching, affected vocals makes him a dance-floor oriented relative of Blake's more mercurial sound. Songs like "Mask," his collaboration with Maribou State, and stunning 2013 single "Hoyle Road," separate him from a deep house pack that often congeals into a formless, undifferentiated mass of sub-bass and semi-soulful vocals.

Hometown: London

This South London singer shares two major characteristics with Blake—dreamy yet capable vocals and an indelible knack for glitchy, billowy production. Arcane recently released his Permanence EP and the five tracks reveal an artist who is eager to twist electronic noises into a shapes that suit his own voice. Stand-out track "Not the Only One" builds on a solitary synth line until the sonic loneliness is replaced with myriad sounds—providing community through both sound and lyrics. James Blake does similar things with his voice, using the sound to tell part of the story. Arcane seems to have a knack for making the sounds he's creating echo whatever sentiments they're supporting. That's a skill that can't be taught, it's instinctual, and whether it's his comic book namesake or simply intuitive, Arcane is an artist with nearly infinite potential

Hometown: Thousand Oaks, California

Listening to James Blake, you get the idea that if he wanted to, he could construct a straightforward song that the masses could dive into. He's got a grasp on melody and rhythm far more advanced than many of today's best songwriters, but he seems unconcerned with maximizing accessibility. Alek Fin is cut from the same cloth. With jittery beats and atmospheric backdrops, Fin produces the kind of song that, like Blake and Thom Yorke, is a solid skeleton covered in fleshy layers of complication. Instead of driving forward and getting to the point, Alek Fin makes music that cuts in and out, meanders, and moves like the static on a broken television. With melodies as beautiful as his, it's still enjoyable, but it's also nervous and a little jarring.

Hometown: London

Fryars first appeared in 2007 as a young, fresh-faced maker of quirky electronic pop, but after releasing his debut album Dark Young Hearts, Benjamin Garrett disappeared for a few years. In late 2012 he returned with a new sound, one that combines glitchy, experimental electronic production with powerful, sometimes soaring pop choruses. Fans of James Blake's atmospheric soundscapes and vocal manipulations will feel right at home with Fryars' music, especially the ghostly shuffle of songs like "Love So Cold" or "On Your Own."