Syro

Syro was recorded over several years in six studios, including James's own in Scotland, which he spent three years building and finished in 2006. A total of 138 pieces of equipment were used. James called it his pop album, or as poppy as it was going to get. The cover resembles a receipt itemising the production and promotion costs, designed by the Designers Republic.

The release was preceded by a blimp over London on 16 August 2014 and an announcement on a Tor hidden service, and the lead single, minipops 67 [120.2], came out on 4 September. The album reached number 8 on the UK albums chart, his first top 10 there, and number 11 on the Billboard 200. At Metacritic it holds an average of 86 from 36 reviews. Pitchfork's Mark Richardson, in a Best New Music review, called it highly melodic electronic music that sounds like it could have come from no other artist, and singled out the closing aisatsana [102], a minimalist piano piece. It won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2015.