Tom Misch is a young producer from London that’s been releasing music for a few years now, including Soulection’s White Label series. After all this time of releasing singles, remixes, one-off collaborations, EPs, and beat tapes, it’s finally time for his first solo album, Geography.

Even if you’re familiar with Misch’s production in the past, there’s probably going to be a few surprises for you with Geography. That’s because while Misch has done a great job of releasing interesting material here and there and building up a following, he’s quietly been prepping this album that shows the full range of his abilities and influences. Two things that are at the forefront of Geography are Misch’s voice, and his ability as a guitar player. Misch doesn’t have a big voice, but he’s got a really nice tone and a nice resonance, along with a really gentle delivery of his lyrics that reminds me of Sondre Lerche. As for his guitar, the guy has gone as far to get a degree in jazz guitar, and he shows off his hard work on this album. As for the sound of the entire album, it’s an interesting one. Misch has roots in producing some downtempo hip hop, but he’s been expanding his sound as his interests and influences grew. By the time we get to Geography, we get an album that dabbles in soul, jazz, R&B, disco, and hip hop, and manages to make a coherent sound out of all of that is unique to Misch. Given his jazz guitar combining with disco and soul, there’s an obvious George Benson influence to the album. The way he updates disco and soul into a modern pop element with hip hop and electronic production, there are times I think of both James Blake and Jamiroquai. There’s room for a lot of different material here. There are these incredibly warm and intimate down tempo moments, such as “Tick Tock,” that then transform into dance tracks. There’s room for a guitar and violin ballad like “Man Like You.” There’s room for guest spots from GoldLink, Poppy Ajudha, Loyle Carner, and De La Soul. Most importantly, this album gives us a song that should be played at dance parties all summer long, “Cos I Love You.” Misch is able to take some Philly Soul, add some neo-soul, move it into a Chicago warehouse party, and then circle back around and tie all the pieces together to deliver a song that is both incredibly sweet and romantic, but also just irresistible to dance to. It also showcases what a talented producer he is as he works in samples, live instrumentation, and genre blending across the composition.

Given the Tom Misch’s young age and the way he rose to popularity online, I was certainly ready for his first album to be a learning experience, something he could build on as he figured out how to take that next step in his career. What I wasn’t ready for was this young kid to drop an album that showed that he already understood the stakes, took the time to make sure the material was up his standards, and to establish a unique sound that is all his own. Geography is hands down one of the best debut albums of the year.