Magnetic Man

Magnetic Man are a trio made up of Skream, Benga and Artwork. They have already created a huge underground following of their dubstep sound and now are looking to release it to the masses.

Their debut eponymous album is very much one of two halves. The boys have a number of instrumental number of here which are OK, some fairing better than others - Ping Pong is 6 odd minutes of not a lot, whereas opener 'Flying Into Tokyo' (complete with oriental sounding) and 'The Bug' are lot more complex, and listenable.

But the album really comes into its own when the guest vocalists join in. Miss Dynamite does a ferocious vocal on 'Fire' whilst John Legend on 'Getting Nowhere' is a strong atmospheric number that works well as a closing number, with an almost Gnarls Berkley feel to it.

However the collaboration that really works is Katy B - it's like Magnetic Man and Katy where made for each other. Both 'Perfect Stranger' and 'Crossover' are fantastic euphoric tracks, the later more stripped down but Katy's vocals still work perfectly with a simple dubstep backing.

'I Need Air' the track that propelled Magnetic Man still sounds great, and shows the diversity of the boys.

It's not a perfect debut, but the collaborations really set it alight. Instrumentals like the hands-in-the-air 'Anthemic' do work but need to be more limited; however it is still well worth listening for the variety and quality of the guest vocalists, these really bring Magnetic Man's instrumentals to life.