What took him so long?  Who cares!  The longest-awaited album in the history of drum and bass finally released after something like three years in the making. It was well worth the wait, though, and with over 13 tracks of astonishing variety on his debut LP, I suspect Sub Focus is about to firmly establish himself as a major production force in electronic music.  

Since being discovered six years ago by Ram, Sub Focus has rapidly become a cross-over success, hot on the heels of genre buddies such as Chase & Status and Pendulum.  

Via references as diverse as Gorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, Daft Punk and FSOL, as well as nods to trance, house and techno, Sub Focus's eponymous album showcases his enormous talent and musicality and demonstrates why an artist like himself - producing music in a genre which has traditionally been overlooked by the mainstream for being too insular - has garnered support from Radio 1, and has seen previous singles such as X Ray, Airplane and Rokit enjoying frequent airplay, as well as top 40 success.

The diversity of styles found on this album reflect not only Sub Focus' open minded approach to production, but a real trend for a more global dance scene.  Despite having come up through drum and bass, Sub Focus's album manages to evade any one definition you might try to pin on it.  As well as the expected massive drum and bass anthems that have helped to launch him right up there with the best in the scene over the past couple of years, you'll also find a much more rounded collection of tracks and great contributions to other bass-inspired sounds such as dubstep and bassline house.

As electronic dance music continues to co-opt elements of different genres and aggregate them into tunes which can break out of whatever silo they've previously been housed within, producers such as Sub Focus are bridging the niches and are no longer making electronic music that is one thing or the other.

"I just want to be known as someone who just makes good dance music," Sub Focus recently told Mixmag.  With this album, he will be.

Sub Focus is out now on Ram Records.

 

Sub Focus in the Knowledge download store.

 

Tracklisting

1. Let The Story Begin
2. World Of Hurt
3. Follow The Light
4. Last Jungle
5. Deep Space
6. Rock It
7. Move Higher
8. Vapourise
9. Triple X
10. Could This Be Real
11. Splash
12. Timewarp

 

 

• Sub Focus
,
• Ram Records

Related Links:

• Free Sub Focus Download
• D Product Guest Mix
• In The Studio: Genotype
• Tunes That Shaped: Thursday Club - A Place Called Acid
• Feature: Sub-Genres

Like it? Share it!
Sign up for more with the Kmag weekly newsletter.