Breakage

Active since the late 1990s, Breakage, the stage name of James Boyle, has from London developed a trajectory rooted in British electronic music, spanning jungle, drum and bass and dubstep. Born in Slough, England, he first appeared on Reinforced Records in the early 2000s, then released on labels linked to bass scenes such as Bassbin, Planet Mu, Critical Music or Digital Soundboy. His work is distinguished by a dark and detailed approach to rhythm, with deep bass, dub textures and a writing that moves between club tension, the heritage of soundsystem and more frontal formats. Breakage released the album This Too Shall Pass in 2006, followed by Foundation in 2010, then When The Night Comes in 2015. Over the course of his career, Breakage has also intersected voices and personalities from grime, reggae or British rap, notably Roots Manuva, David Rodigan, Newham Generals, Donae'o and Jess Mills, without leaving the axis of London bass music. His productions as well as his DJ sets are part of a continuum between the English breakbeat traditions of the 1990s and the more recent mutations of the UK electronic scene.