Katy B

On a Mission appeared in 2011, drawing together UK garage, funky and dubstep. Katy on a Mission, produced by Benga, is a particularly clear statement of the relationship: the bass has its own weight and movement, while the vocal supplies a melodic line that can hold its shape against it.

Lights On, with Ms. Dynamite, gives that connection a more openly communal feeling. Broken Record makes another kind of use of repetition, allowing the circling thought in the song to sit naturally inside the track’s rhythmic motion. The writing belongs to the same world as the production.

Little Red followed in 2014. Crying for No Reason brings a broader, more exposed vocal performance into the picture, with the arrangement rising around the melody. It shows how much feeling Katy can carry without losing the rhythmic precision established on the first record.

That precision matters even on the more expansive songs. A syllable can land just before a beat, or a phrase can trail into the next bar, giving the performance a tension which a perfectly square delivery would miss. The technique rarely advertises itself; it simply keeps the song alive.

The collaborative project Honey arrived in 2016, with contributors including Kaytranada and Floating Points. It places the voice against a wider range of electronic settings.

The debut remains an especially strong introduction because its sense of place is so complete. Katy sounds like a participant in the night rather than a narrator added afterwards, and the music gives the small human details as much importance as the bass.