James Blake | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Producer/singer/songwriter James Blake became known for a unique style that wrapped aching, gently sung R&B; vocals around the deep bass and minimal rhythmic elements of dubstep. He arrived in 2009 with a series of 12" singles and achieved both critical acclaim and worldwide fame following his self-titled 2011 album. His renown continued to rise over the next several years, and he collaborated with pop icons like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Bon Iver, in addition to consistently working on solo material. Born James Blake Litherland in London, England in 1988, Blake was raised in a musical family. He was classically trained in piano from a very young age and would focus on musical studies throughout his education. While still very young, he and his friends became fixated on electronic music, in particular the emerging dubstep sound that was beginning in London in the mid-2000s. He took inspiration from early U.K. dubstep artists like Burial, Distance, and Skream and merged it with influences from textural R&B; innovators like DAngelo while developing his first original tracks. Blakes R&B-sampling; strain of dubstep first arrived in the form of his Air & Lack Thereof 12" on the Hemlock label in 2009. Blake received quite the endorsement when the heralded Soul Jazz label picked the track up for their Steppas Delight 2 compilation that same year. Blake raised his profile every few months during 2010 -- something of a breakout year for him -- with a succession of warmly received 12" releases: The Bells Sketch (Hessle Audio, March), CMYK (R&S;, June), Klavierwerke (R&S;, October), and the single-sided Limit to Your Love (Atlas, November). The last of the series -- a cover of a song by Feist in which Blakes heartfelt vocal was placed front and center -- served as a precursor to his first full-length, issued the following February. Titled James Blake, it made a major impression, and was eventually nominated for a Mercury Prize but lost to PJ Harveys Let England Shake. Blake returned to Hemlock for the Order 12", then reverted to Atlas for Enough Thunder, a six-track EP with a Bon Iver collaboration and a cover of Joni Mitchells "A Case of You." Yet another 12", Love What Happened Here, was out by the end of 2011. Blake spent much of 2012 working on his second album, releasing new work under the name Harmonimix, and performing less often as the new songs percolated. In April 2013, second album Overgrown appeared, featuring collaborations with Brian Eno and RZA. It won that years Mercury Prize, and Blakes songwriting was acknowledged when "Retrograde," one of the albums highlights, won an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Contemporary Song. Apart from an Airhead collaboration and an EP on his 1-800 Dinosaur label, little was heard from Blake for three years. He resurfaced in April 2016 with contributions to Beyoncés Lemonade. A couple weeks later, The Colour in Anything, his third album, arrived with only a few hours advance notice. Recorded in England and at Rick Rubins studio in Malibu, California, it included input from Bon Iver and Frank Ocean. The album peaked within the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 and topped the U.S. Dance/Electronic chart. That year, Blake also contributed to Frank Oceans Endless, Vince Staples Prima Donna, and Travis Scotts Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. He continued into 2017 with appearances on Jay-Zs 4:44 and Mount Kimbies Love What Survives, while also producing "Element" for Kendrick Lamars DAMN. In 2018, Blake was active as a co-writer/performer of two songs on the soundtrack to the superhero blockbuster Black Panther: he contributed to the single "Kings Dead" alongside Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Jay Rock, and to "Bloody Waters," also co-written by Lamar. "Kings Dead" would go on to win 2019s Grammy for Best Rap Performance, Blakes first Grammy win after multiple nominations over the years. Several singles arrived throughout 2018, beginning in January with "If the Car Beside You Moves Ahead," followed by "Dont Miss It" in May. Throughout the year, Blakes production and vocals appeared on new albums by experimental electronic artist Oneohtrix Point Never and mainstream rapper Travis Scott. By years end he announced his fourth album, Assume Form. It was released in January of 2019 and included guest spots from Metro Boomin, Andre 3000, and Travis Scott. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: The Bells Sketch Released: 2010-03-08 Tracks: 3 Duration: 14:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Bells Sketch (04:17) 2 Buzzard and Kestrel (05:44) 3 Give a Man a Rod (04:34) |
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: CMYK EP Released: 2010-05-28 Tracks: 4 Duration: 15:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 CMYK (03:40) 2 Footnotes (04:48) 3 I’ll Stay (03:50) 4 Postpone (03:40) |
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: Klavierwerke EP Released: 2010-09-27 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Klavierwerke (05:06) 2 Tell Her Safe (03:14) 3 I Only Know (What I Know Now) (05:16) 4 Dont You Think I Do (03:05) |
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: James Blake Released: 2011-02-04 Tracks: 11 Duration: 38:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Unluck (03:00) 2 The Wilhelm Scream (04:37) 3 I Never Learnt to Share (04:51) 4 Lindisfarne I (02:42) 5 Lindisfarne II (03:01) 6 Limit to Your Love (04:36) 7 Give Me My Month (01:56) 8 To Care (Like You) (03:52) 9 Why Dont You Call Me (01:35) 10 I Mind (03:31) 11 Measurements (04:19) |
| James Blake : Allmusic album Review : During 2009 and 2010, James Blake issued a clutch of abstract dubstep singles on Hemlock, Hessle Audio, and R&S.; Each release increased anticipation for the producer’s next move as he continually shuffled the deck on his bristly, off-center, and generally groove-less tracks, some of which incorporated vocals -- he sampled Kelis and Aaliyah on “CMYK,” for instance -- or his own voice, heavily processed. The Klavierwerke EP, the last in the series, was the most stripped down of the bunch. The day after it was released, Blake uploaded a video for his dramatic cover version of Feist’s “Limit to Your Love,” which indicated that the focus on his voice and sparse backing would continue. Consisting of Blakes pensive vocal, a simple but affecting piano, and recurring beat weighed down by sub-bass, it’s one of the most straightforward tracks on Blake’s brief debut album. The following “Give Me My Month” deviates most from Blake’s vinyl output; it’s a wistful piano-and-voice ballad that has far more in common with Procol Harum than any given contemporary linked to Blake. The rest of the tracks are more like exercises in sound manipulation and reduction than songs. The approach is no fault, but Blake pares it down to such an extent that the material occasionally sounds not just tentative but feeble, fatigued, even, as on “I Never Learnt to Share,” where one creaky line is repeated and treated throughout, placed over swelling synthesizer frequencies and a stamping beat. “The Wilhelm Scream,” one of the album’s highlights, is far more effective, a ballad with a pulse that increases in intensity with skillfully deployed reverb and surging waves of soft noise. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: Enough Thunder Released: 2011-10-10 Tracks: 6 Duration: 25:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Once We All Agree (04:23) 2 We Might Feel Unsound (04:00) 3 Fall Creek Boys Choir (04:33) 4 A Case of You (02:57) 5 Not Long Now (05:23) 6 Enough Thunder (04:15) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: Overgrown Released: 2013-04-05 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Overgrown (05:00) 2 I Am Sold (04:04) 3 Life Round Here (03:37) 4 Take a Fall For Me (03:33) 5 Retrograde (03:43) 6 Dlm (02:25) 7 Digital Lion (04:47) 8 Voyeur (04:17) 9 To the Last (04:19) 10 Our Love Comes Back (03:39) |
| Overgrown : Allmusic album Review : With his 2011 debut full-length, dubstep-via-fractured R&B producer James Blake delivered on the promise of his earlier singles while at the same time overhauling his sound, moving away somewhat from the sample-heavy dubstep of those tracks to a sparser atmosphere. The album focused more on Blakes equally haunted piano and vocal lines, submerged elements of implied rhythms, dubsteps subsonic bass resonance, and ghostly samples to create a picture of restraint and contained emotional upheaval. The album felt not so much like the calm before the storm, but like silently watching a hurricane slowly and soundlessly move closer from the distance. Sophomore album Overgrown offers a similar feeling, but Blake approaches the songs here with even more restraint and a subtly deconstructed take on pop. Subtlety is perhaps Blakes greatest attribute on Overgrown, with what could even be the albums heaviest moments blurring into a pleasantly melancholy whole through deft production choices. Take for instance "Take a Fall for Me," a partially rhythm-less track featuring Wu-Tangs RZA in an extended set of rhymes over a looping sample of static and processed backing vocals, and samples that recall Trickys earliest work. The jagged edges of a track like this could render it awkward with more obvious production, but Blakes touch pushes even RZAs toughest verses into a rainy, lamenting place. The skeletal piano of the debut returns on tracks like "DLM" or the gorgeous album-closer "Our Love Comes Back," which has the faintest hints of Chet Bakers springtime loneliness buried in Blakes mumbling blue-eyed R&B vocals. Brian Eno even shows up to collaborate on the sputtering rhythms of "Digital Lion," perhaps the most hyperactive track here, though only in relative terms. Somewhere between the vacant echoes of dub and trip-hop, dubsteps sample-slicing production, and the contained heartbreak of a singer/songwriter playing piano to himself in an empty room, Blake has crafted Overgrown. Its understated to the point of invisibility at times, with Blake subtracting even himself from the songs, allowing the lead vocals or hooks to be consumed by the song at large. Though the stormy textures and somber reflections are pretty specific to a particular mood, Overgrown finds and fits that mood perfectly. While it might take listeners a few spins to find the right head space for the album, once they get there, its an easy place to get lost in. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: 200 Press Released: 2014-12-08 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 200 Press (06:13) 2 200 Pressure (04:51) 3 Building It Still (04:25) 4 Words That We Both Know (01:03) |
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: The Colour in Anything Released: 2016-05-06 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:16:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Radio Silence (04:00) 2 Points (03:31) 3 Love Me in Whatever Way (05:03) 4 Timeless (04:22) 5 f.o.r.e.v.e.r. (02:40) 6 Put That Away and Talk to Me (03:57) 7 I Hope My Life (1-800 mix) (05:40) 8 Waves Know Shores (02:55) 9 My Willing Heart (04:02) 10 Choose Me (05:38) 11 I Need a Forest Fire (04:17) 12 Noise Above Our Heads (05:03) 13 The Colour in Anything (03:33) 14 Two Men Down (06:01) 15 Modern Soul (05:32) 16 Always (05:04) 17 Meet You in the Maze (04:55) |
| The Colour in Anything : Allmusic album Review : Little was heard from James Blake throughout an almost three-year period that followed Overgrown, his second straight Top Ten U.K. album. He appeared on an Airhead track and released a 12" on his 1-800-Dinosaur label, yet it wasnt until February 2016, during his BBC Radio 1 program, that listeners got their initial taste of album three. Drawn like a scene from a dissolving relationship that immediately precedes release and relief, "Modern Soul" hinted that the album could be a bit brighter with less of the anguish that permeated the singer/producers first two albums. Another song, a vaguely aching minimal dub ballad, was aired two months later, possibly chosen because it too had a title, "Timeless," that could potentially wind up detractors. In late April, when it seemed like he might spring on his audience a tune named something like "Proper Music," Blake received a profile boost from Beyoncé, whose Lemonade prominently sported a pair of songs featuring his assistance. A couple weeks later, the long-delayed The Colour in Anything materialized at a length nearly that of his first two albums put together. Recording began in London. Once stalled by creative fatigue, Blake decamped to Rick Rubins Malibu studio. The sunnier environment had no evident effect on the albums outlook. Regardless of location, Blake continues to deal in fraught romantic trauma, setting the albums tone immediately with "Radio Silence," a mix of mournful gospel and surging synthesizers in which "I cant believe this, you dont wanna see me" is stated something like ten times. As he sifts through the wreckage in puzzled and lucid states, he still stretches and distorts his frail but transfixing choir boy voice. A few lines are expressed with Auto-Tune fillips, some are enhanced through fine layering, and others are left unembellished, sometimes sunk into the mix of basslines that tap and thrum, percussion that gently skitters and scrapes, and synthesizers, applied like coating, that swell and swarm. Most disorienting is "Put That Away and Talk to Me," akin to a malfunctioning lullaby mobile playing a late-90s Timbaland knockoff. Blake sought some help, not only from Rubin, who co-produced the Malibu sessions, but from Justin Vernon, who assisted with two songs and is heard on "I Need a Forest Fire," while Frank Ocean co-wrote another pair, including the all-voice closer, where Blake solemnly resolves -- ta-da -- that contentment is up to him. Compared to the self-titled debut and Overgrown, this a more graceful and denser purging, one that can soundtrack some intense wallowing or, at a low volume, throb and murmur unobtrusively in the background. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: Assume Form Released: 2019-01-18 Tracks: 12 Duration: 48:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Assume Form (04:49) 2 Mile High (03:13) 3 Tell Them (03:28) 4 Into the Red (04:17) 5 Barefoot in the Park (03:31) 6 Can’t Believe the Way We Flow (04:27) 7 Are You in Love? (03:17) 8 Where’s the Catch? (04:36) 9 I’ll Come Too (03:42) 10 Power On (04:06) 11 Don’t Miss It (04:59) 12 Lullaby for My Insomniac (03:43) |