James Blake brings his ever-evolving sound to Hong Kong

THERE IS AN INFLUENTIAL club in London which has had a virtually unrivalled impact on the progression and growth of contemporary music in Britain during the past decade. And if you happened to have attended any of its seminal dubstep nights from around 2007 onwards, you would likely have bumped into a tall, fresh-faced Goldsmiths music student, lost in the tracks, taking it all in, composing melodies in his head.

The club was Plastic People, the night was FWD and the tall figure in the shadows was James Blake. The producer and singer-songwriter was obsessed with Plastic People, where he now runs his own night, 1-800 DINOSAUR.

"I was hooked, as everybody else was, by new tunes, listening to mixes, and finding new music the whole time," Blake says. "In few other genres was there such an exciting array of new music."

Fast forward six years, and Blake is now regarded as one of the most exciting and original British artists to have emerged from any genre for some time. Since his first release in 2009, the post-dubstep 12" Air & Lack Thereof, he has put out a slew of singles, at least six EPs, and two critically acclaimed albums - including last year's Mercury Prize-winning Overgrown - all before his 25th birthday.

Blake is excited ahead of his January 23 gig, since his only other Asian appearance to date has been in South Korea. He will bring his entire live set up to Kitec in Kowloon Bay, and while he wants to fully recreate the "vibe of the albums" on stage, he's also insistent on "bringing something new and fresh".

Blake's latest album, Overgrown, which made it onto many best-of-lists for 2013, picked up where his 2011 self-titled debut left off. His voice is as ever-present, but the body of work and production as a whole feels weightier and more pronounced. This was a conscious approach from Blake, who was concerned about being labelled "minimal".

"There's definitely more stuff going on as I wanted to get away from the word 'silence'. There were a lot of words surrounding the first LP that I decided I didn't want to be. I wanted to do something new, and in doing that I shed a skin. The idea of my music being minimal was pointed out on the first LP, and I think the second one is less so. The weight of minimalism that year [2011] was evident. I didn't want to do that anymore."

What's also evident across all of the releases is his transformation from an electronic producer to a bona fide singer-songwriter. With a performing musician for a father, guitarist James Litherland, and with his training as a pianist, this is nothing new for Blake, but the singing came later than expected.

"What was inhibiting was not knowing how to produce my voice. Anyone can try their hand at singing, and a lot of people do, but the music that surrounds your voice needs to frame it well. It doesn't do you well to just put your voice out there for no reason other than to hear it. That would be a bit vain. It can make you sound either uncomfortable or completely in your element. In practical terms if you'd heard what I might have done if I'd put my voice out early, it may not have sounded dishonest, it may just have sounded crap."

There's a line on the new album that goes: "I don't want to be a star/ Just a stone on the shore". When asked whether the accolades (including a 2014 Grammy nomination) and wide acclaim have made that difficult, Blake says: "That line didn't quite come true."

Arguably Blake's greatest attribute is his ability to keep listeners guessing. All of his material sounds like James Blake, and yet he's grown from release to release. Next up is an EP on his own label. As for mainstream fame, Blake's not quite there yet, and doesn't seem to aspire to it either. "You have to work harder than that to get noticed in London, even being six foot six. It's so dark in Plastic People, nobody can see me anyway."

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James Blake, January 23, 8pm, Kitec Music Zone, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, HK$520, jamesblake.ticketflap.com.