Flume - Skin (2016)

In the wake of the clamorous hype surrounding his eponymous debut, Harley Streten suffered a bout of crippling writer's block when sitting down to write album number two. Only after an impromptu escape to Mexico did something click back into place for the Australian beat-maker, who’s bounced back with a mammoth 16-tracker for patient fans to feast on. Like his heady remixes for Sam Smith and Lorde, Skin breathes a tingling, emotive energy into each collaboration, from the “whale-call”-inspired ‘Lose It’ with Chicago-rapper Vic Mensa, to steamy Tove Lo-starring cut ‘Say It’. Slow starts and mental-blocks aside, we’re in no doubt that Streten’s snatched victory from the jaws of the defeat.