The seventh album in the safe of one of the most influential artists of the 1910s, fair or not, and whatever you may think, James Blake has traced the path, skillfully combining electronics with a production approach to writing British songs, even in the same re-reading of other people’s songs there is always a sense of an innovative way of doing things, which is itself original.
A career that’s starting to be long and full, a long-distance self-titled debut in 2010 that already had people crying out for a small miracle, and then the sophomore release “Overgrown” a couple of years later is just the beginning of a long series of publications that are classics of some kind or experimental, such as his most recent soundtrack, “Wind Down”, and then the new album “Playing Robots Into Heaven”, which came out after a great collaboration. from the pop/rap scene, yes Travis Scott To Rosalieeven before Beyoncéelite artists with mind-blowing numbers.
As for the album in question, released exactly two years after the last collection of songs, Friends That Break Your Heart, it is a rich album produced with world-class craftsmanship that puts the artist back at the center of the project. , the lack of performances and the desire to emphasize the more clubby, almost DJ side of his career, alternating, as always, with songs of great depth.
The sophisticated beginning of “Asking to Break”, beautiful in itself, with whispers and falsetto, anticipates the sensational “Loading”, which was not chosen by chance as a single, one of the most beautiful songs of almost two weeks of electronic discography. some of the most inspired works of all time.
“Tell Me” turns up the volume for a wild dance floor, the third part-instrumental track, with consistent production, immediately continues with another instrumental like “Fall Back”, the same goes for “He’s Been Wonderful” and “Big Hammer”. home and modernity go hand in hand.
The super-processed voice returns on “Night Sky,” a falsetto deconstructed and avant-garde song.
And “Fire The Editor” brings us back to Blake, who uses his trademark as a futuristic singer-songwriter for a modern yet effective ballad that has great value and excellent execution.
“If You Can Hear Me” is another ballad, short and eccentric but important, with hints of piano, minimal sounds and supported voices, with genuine beauty.
The title track, released in advance a few days ago, is a bouquet of experimental, almost improvised sounds that concludes this new work, certainly an important return, an exquisite album, reasoned and thought out without dogma, like his entire career. , with an eye on what has been done so far, but with the desire and attitude of those who know how to innovate, with the intention of finding a new way to never repeat itself.