Never afraid to make an impact, he burst onto the drum and bass scene back in 2000, announcing his arrival with a raucous remix of a hardcore classic, Nasty Habit’s ‘Here Come the Drums’ on Reinforced.
He backed up this bold move, however, with a series of EPs for the legendary label proving he was no young pretender. Breakage was at the forefront of a new wave of breakbeat scientists bringing a percussive sound back to drum and bass at a time when the scene seemed to have forgotten it’s jungle roots.
Breakage continued his good form dropping a number of sort after releases for the Inperspective label, his remix of Equinox’s ‘Acid Rain’ twisted the Amen break to new levels and served as a rallying call for producers looking to bring back the original drum and bass sound.
Further releases came on labels including Critical and Scientific Wax, before his debut album release in 2006 ‘This To Shall Pass’ gained wide spread critical acclaim and included some slower tempo material, hinting at what was to come.
James signed with Shy FX’s mighty Digital Soundboy imprint in 2007, and soon turned heads with the haunting half- time beats of ‘Clarendon b/w Shroud.’ It came as no surprise that he would make waves in the dubstep community with his next release, ‘Callahan b/w Untitled,’ after having remixed one of the scene’s biggest tracks to date, Benga & Coki’s ‘Night,’ alongside Shy FX as Digital Soundboy.
2009 saw Breakage cemented himself as a main player across the British dance music press and taste- making elite. Following on from the superb ‘Together’, Breakage released ‘Run Em Out’ feat. Roots Manuva b/w ‘Higher’ followed by the thuggish reworked ‘Hard’ feat. Newham Generals and David Rodigan, which has gone on be become a underground anthem with Zane Lowe naming it his ‘Hottest Record In The World’ on his Radio 1 show.
His sophomore LP ‘Foundation’ was released in March 2010 on Digital Soundboy, featuring Skream, Burial, Roots Manuva, David Rodigan, Newham Generals, Donae'o and more. The album has been a tremendous success across the dubstep/d&b scenes as well as widespread mainstream acclaim. IDJ, DJ MAG, NME & Mixmag all named the record 'Album Of The Month' and it supporters included the likes of Zane Lowe, Pete Tong, Laurent Garnier and Benga.
Alongside his original recordings James has also recently turned in remixes for the likes of Massive Attack, Florence & The Machine, Plan B, Magnetic Man, Underworld & Claire Maguire.
To quote a certain Mr. Roots Manuva... “Breakage is a man with an ear for deep, deep, sub-sonic frequencies. He goes in low. I thinking he’s talking to sea-life. He’s talking to the squid”.
2011 saw Breakage up the levels once again. His single ‘Fighting Fire’ featuring Jess Mills caused serious damage across dance-floors and airwaves worldwide. Zane Lowe named it his ‘Hottest Record In The World’ again (Its James 6th Hottest Record in the last year!), and further support came from Annie Mac, Nick Grimshaw, Mista Jam, Rob Da Bank and even Vernon Kay. Fighting Fire charted at 34 in the official UK national charts and spent 5 weeks on the BBC Radio 1 A-list.
In 2012 James remixed Benga, Loadstar and Ellie Goulding, plus the critically acclaimed released of his ‘The Promise EP’ earning his another Zane Lowe ‘Hottest record’ slot.
Dec 2014 see's Breakage release the first single 'Treading Water', taken from his forthcoming album 'When The Night Comes' - due for release spring 2015.
Treading Water
Breakage Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll hold you up but it's harder and harder to see.
Down here, where the light fades,
the sound of our loving is swallowed inside.
There's nowhere to hide.
Always live for love, you said.
Never live for pain, you said.
We both can't tread water.
There's more to this than can ever be the truth.
Steel blue on my lips and the taste, the taste of you.
Like ribbons round my neck, the tie tightens, the dark lightens,
But I won't leave, I won't let go, you're all I've ever known.
Always live for love, you said.
Never live for pain, you said.
So why are we trapped in this slipstream of me?
We both can't tread water.
You're drowning in me.
And you're pulling me, you're pulling me down.
The water is rising,
Rising up in me,
And I can't look away
And I can't breathe.
It's all disappearing, it's all slowly sinking
And I just need to leave.
The lyrics to Breakage's song Treading Water delve into the complexities of a relationship that is slowly turning toxic. The singer is holding on to his/her partner despite the relationship becoming harder and harder to maintain. The first stanza of the song creates a vivid picture of the situation - the sound of their love is fading away, and there seems to be nowhere left to hide. The singer provides reassurance to their lover by promising to hold on tight and not let go, but the situation is becoming unbearable.
The chorus emphasizes the theme of the relationship - living for love and not for pain. However, the singer finds him/herself trapped in a "slipstream of me," which suggests that their emotional needs are not being met. The song's title, Treading Water, is particularly apt, as the phrase means to make efforts towards staying afloat in a difficult situation without making any progress. The relationship seems to be in a state of stagnation, and neither partner can move forward.
The second verse offers more insights into the complexity of their relationship. The lyrics suggest that the relationship is suffocating and restrictive for both parties involved. The singer is holding onto their partner like "ribbons round my neck," a powerful metaphor that reveals how the relationship is becoming increasingly claustrophobic. The singer is struggling to let go, despite the situation becoming more and more toxic.
In conclusion, Breakage's song Treading Water is a powerful exploration of a difficult romantic relationship. The song's lyrics provide insight into the difficulties that can arise when two people are trying to maintain a connection that isn't working. The song's somber tone and haunting melody offer a poignant and thought-provoking commentary on human relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't let go and slip down into the deep,
I'm afraid you'll sink into darkness, so please don't let go.
I'll hold you up but it's harder and harder to see.
I'll try to keep you afloat, but it's getting more difficult as everything becomes obscure.
Down here, where the light fades,
In this shadowy place where brightness diminishes,
the sound of our loving is swallowed inside.
our affectionate clamor is absorbed and silenced.
There's nowhere to hide.
There is no refuge or shelter here.
Always live for love, you said.
You always advocated for love above all else.
Never live for pain, you said.
You advised against living for agony.
So why are we trapped in this slipstream of me?
So why are we caught in a current that's all about me?
We both can't tread water.
We both can't keep staying afloat.
There's more to this than can ever be the truth.
There's more than meets the eye in this situation.
Steel blue on my lips and the taste, the taste of you.
I'm left with cold steel on my lips and a lingering memory of you.
Like ribbons round my neck, the tie tightens, the dark lightens,
It feels like ribbons are strangling me, the darkness gets brighter,
But I won't leave, I won't let go, you're all I've ever known.
Despite everything, I won't abandon you; you're all I've ever had.
You're drowning in me.
You're being consumed by me.
And you're pulling me, you're pulling me down.
But you're dragging me along with you; you're bringing me down.
The water is rising,
The water level is increasing,
Rising up in me,
Growing stronger in me,
And I can't look away
And I can't turn my gaze elsewhere.
And I can't breathe.
And I can't catch my breath.
It's all disappearing, it's all slowly sinking
It's all vanishing, it's all slowly descending,
And I just need to leave.
And I just need to walk away.
Contributed by Kennedy F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Scott Ord
Powerful vocals, and I love the a cappella format - I can't wait to hear the mixes with this tune over some slamming beats!
Cozzie Watt
I shall be remixing this next week :)
paul madsen
Where can i find the acapella file for this man?
TheKonceptmusic
Shout out to anyone still listening to this in 2021.
Sounds just as good now as it did in 2015
Kenji Productions
King Breakage...always great stuff from him!
Polish Al
That moment when the bit drops ...amazing !
SMYAH
love Breakage's basslines
Nicholas Rixon
Love this!
Bigbeatmanifesto
Atually beautiful, all people complaining about beats do have a point. A drum and bass remix of this would be fucking incredibleeee.
zip
usually I don't like singing on songs like these but this one is shhhweeeeeeeet