James Blake is a funny one. The super-producer has transcended more genre borders than most have crossed country borders and has one of the widest reaching networks in music, working closely with rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Slowthai, as well as producing for global icons like Beyonce.
Yet his music has always been divisive. The styling of his early work was sparse of lyrics, letting the incredible production take you through unexpected crests and troughs for a truly unique sound. This came to an absolute head with the acclaimed releases of Overgrown and The Colour in Everything, which foreshadowed the change to a more conventional music style. And after a slight miscue on Assume Form, a wonderful record but not quite James Blake, he’s back for another shot at a more traditional album.
Friends that Break Your Heart is just that. Still backed by ethereal production, that really needs good quality speakers to do it justice, the music is carried by the lyrics. This lends to Blake’s growing confidence in his beautiful falsetto and song writing. It really is a good album. But something does feel missing.
The subject matter of the pain of losing friendships is an interesting choice but Blake does do it justice. The title-track is a slow, soft ballad that mourns these very loses with touching emotion. He also explores the lingering feelings that can be held for an ex on ‘Famous Last Words’, one of the albums lead singles. It is one of the high points of the album and is one of the only songs on the album that does have some sonic changes, creating a sense of unknown movement – that you don’t know what to expect next – that was once ubiquitous in Blake’s work.
And that’s what I feel has gone. A once integral part of James Blake just isn’t there.
Every musical artist evolves. It would be strange if they didn’t. But the way that James Blake has gone is almost the opposite way round to the usual story. He hasn’t cultivated a fanbase by playing by the rules before extending past making music for money into creating what he truly wants to make, as bands such as Arctic Monkeys. It feels like Blake is playing it safer with each album, releasing music that is decent, but doesn’t push the envelope the way that his previous discography once did.
And it’s a real shame.
Some of this has to do with Blake having found a solid life-partner in Jameela Jamil, with his last two albums now missing the themes of alienation and loneliness that radiated through his earlier work, reflecting his life at the time. This sonic change is not unwelcomed, it has just led to more mediocre music.
There are still highlights throughout the album but unfortunately, it’s largely quite forgettable. The features from SZA and Monica Martin are a couple of the brighter spots on the album, but “Frozen”, featuring JID and SwaVay, feels out of place and forced. The other feature from Slowthai on “Funeral” is glorious, however it is only available as a bonus track on the deluxe album. It’s another choice from Blake that seems short-sighted, as this should have been one of the lead singles from the album, not a post-release add-on. It’s disappointing.
I really wanted to like this album, and the singles which preluded it were promising, but James Blake has underwhelmed again. A decent record, it lacks that special something that made James Blake such a unique and wonderful artist in the early 10’s. If you want to find out what James Blake is really about, listen to Overgrown or The Colour in Everything, but not this.
Rating: 3/5
