James Blake, Friends That Break Your Heart Review
James Blake is a London-based producer, singer, and songwriter that first hit the scene with his quirky, R&B-sampling strain of dubstep in 2009 when his Air & Lack Thereof 12″ appeared on the Hemlock label. Blake then had a track picked by the heralded Soul Jazz label for their Steppas’ Delight 2 compilation that same year. Blake continued to raise his reputation during 2010, which was something of a breakout year for him with a succession of warmly received songs. His debut album, James Blake, had a significant impression and was eventually nominated for a Mercury Prize but lost to PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake. Blake’s Enough Thunder, a six-track EP with a Bon Iver collaboration and a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” also was greeted with much success. Blake spent much of 2012 working on his second album, releasing new works under the name Harmonimix. In 2013, he released his second album, Overgrown, featuring collaborations with Brian Eno and RZA. It won that year’s Mercury Prize, and Blake’s songwriting was acknowledged when “Retrograde,” one of the album’s highlights, won an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Contemporary Song. Little, apart from an Airhead collaboration and an EP on his 1-800 Dinosaur label, was heard from Blake for three years. However, he resurfaced in April 2016 with contributions to Beyoncé’s Lemonade. The Colour in Anything marked Blake’s third album, which was recorded in England and at Rick Rubin’s studio in Malibu, California; it included input from Bon Iver and Frank Ocean. (David Jeffries & Andy Kellman, AMG). Blake is now releasing his first full-length album in three years, Friends That Break Your Heart.
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Friends That Break Your Heart
Famous Last Words
Life Is Not The Same
Coming Back [feat. SZA] [Explicit]
Funeral
Frozen [feat. JID & SwaVay] [Explicit]
I'm So Blessed You're Mine
Foot Forward
Show Me [feat. Monica Martin]
Say What You Will
Lost Angel Nights
Friends That Break Your Heart
If I'm Insecure
October 8, 2021
Republic Records / Polydor Records
8.8