Ambitious like James Blake, and freewheeling like the London dubstep scene he’s lit up for two years, SBTRKT (real name Aaron Jerome) tries a lot of things on his debut — and succeeds at most. Guest vocalist Sampha evokes Blake’s parched croon, only SBTRKT is far more urgent and playful than Blake’s album. The vocal-driven songs have an irresistible R&B-once-removed hookiness: Basement Jaxx would kill to have made the buoyant, 2-step garage throwback "Pharoahs." Elsewhere, "Something Goes Right," "Ready Set Loop," and "Sanctuary" have a starry-eyed quality that's grounded by the intricately skipping rhythms and, particularly on the grinding "Wildfire," mutant mega-bass.

Listen to "Wildfire":

Related:
• Artist of the Week: James Blake

This review was updated to reflect the following: SBTRKT's real name is Aaron Jerome; and Sampha appears as a guest vocalist.

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.