Skream - Outside the Box

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2...according to our Brett on Thu 05 Aug, 2010.

So this job's obviously been set up as dubstep OG Ollie Jones' crack at the big time what with the deluxe packaging (hey, it's called 'Outside the Box' and it comes - in a box!), La Roux dropping by for a brief appearance and the general 'crossover appeal' vibe which permeates the whole thing. I guess his sound wasn't particularly known for its rough edges in the first place but this record's produced to within an inch of its life and sort of ends up giving the impression more of something created more by laboratory boffins following the careful instructions of a reasonably uninspired focus group than any kind of organic musical statement. He has little goes at branching out into hip-hop, electro, old school UK garage, trance, drum 'n' bass and even trip-hop but the more successful tracks are definitely the ones where he sticks to what he knows, despite the fact that the dreaded wobble does pop up a couple of times. So yeah, can't really see this one pleasing his old fans too much or having masses of mainstream appeal but hey, look at the Mercury Music Prize nominees.. They clearly prove I know nothing about music. Oh yeah, I probably should mention that the vinyl set contains four 12"s rather than LPs, there's just the eight tracks on there!

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Ollie 'Skream' Jones is on a major roll. The 25 year old Croydon DJ, producer and original dubstepper had the festival
anthem of last year with his Let's Get Ravey remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill'; he's just been featured on the cover of NME with his Magnetic Man co-stars Benga and Artwork (not to mention the covers of DJ and Mixmag) and as we speak, he is all over Radio 1 with the lead track from his second solo album, Outside The Box.

The tune in question, 'Listenin To The Records On My Wall', is the perfect introduction to why Skream's current level of
success is just the beginning. It's a joyful, ragingly energetic celebration of the last quarter decade of British street
music, inspired by the hardcore and jungle records used by his older brother Hijak who was part of Grooverider's Internatty Crew. It's also a brilliant pop record that makes perfect sense to everyone who grew up surrounded by the breaks and beats of the 1990s – and to those who didn't.

This, however, is not a revival record. A natural born modernist, Skream has selected 14 tracks that cover hip hop ('8-Bit Baby', with LA rapper Murs from Living Legends), bass-wobbling dubstep (the self-explanatory 'Wibbler'), dreamy electronica ('Perferated'), a dark and tribal track with La Roux, and a strong dose of euphoric jungle on 'The Epic Last Tune'; a track that is inadvisable to listen to whilst driving – unless you want another six points on your licence.

Outside The Box is the sound of an artist who is ready to take his considerable talents to a wider audience without
compromising any of the raw, hedonistic, emotional, lose-yourself madness that has made him literally legendary to the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Take 'Where You Should Be' a song which features singer and songwriter Sam Frank. "I don't think I'll ever be sick of that track. I've easily listened to it 500 times. It's not fundamentally for the dancefloor." There's the 8-bit computer game inspiration of 'CPU'; the Daft Punk styled vocals of 'How Real' feat Freckles; the tuff but soothing heart-beat of 'Fields Of Emotion' and the Jocelyn Brown-sampling 'I Love The Way', which sees the first lady of disco pitched right down (“she sounds well mannish") and which you might have heard at Skream's massive festival sets at Pukkelpop, Glastonbury or Roskilde, where he and Benga began their crowd-surfing habit.

Towards the end of the album, there are moments that point in a whole new direction, like 'Reflections', a tune written with talented drum 'n' bassheads dBridge and Instra:mental. "It's opened my eyes to a whole new way of working. I was playing the bass, and they were programming drums and playing the pads and strings. I was used to sitting in front of a screen." And then there's 'Song For Lenny', a sad and very personal musical dedication to a lost friend.

Album aside, life's busy for Oliver Jones. He's back DJing after taking some time out at the start of the year, switching up his DJ sets to include 4/4, techno, garage and grime and, most weeks, hosting his Rinse FM show – now alongside Benga – where listeners get to hear new tunes and Skream and Benga's inimitable banter. There will be another Skreamizm EP later in the year, as well as the highly anticipated Magnetic Man album and live shows. It's going to a big summer, inside and outside the box.

Tracklisting:

Standard CD Version:

1. Perferated 2. 8 Bit Baby (feat. Murs) 3. CPU 4. Where You Should Be (feat. Sam Frank) 5. How Real (feat.
Freckles) 6. Fields Of Emotion 7. I Love The Way 8. Listenin' To The Records On My Wall 9. Wibbler
10. Metamorphosis 11. Finally (feat. La Roux) 12. Reflections (feat. dBridge & Instra:mental) 13. A Song For Lenny
14. The Epic Last Song

Deluxe CD Version:

Limited Edition Deluxe flap-lid box containing the album as above with an additional, exclusive, bonus CD of brand new
Skreamizm tracks.

4xLP Version (Boxed Set):

A1. 8 Bit Baby (Instrumental) B1. Where You Should Be (feat. Sam Frank) C1. How Real (feat. Freckles) D1. Fields Of Emotion E1. I Love The Way F1. Wibbler G1. Reflections (feat. dBridge & instra:mental) H1. The Epic Last Tune

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