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James Blake, the most sensitive of all songwriters in Great Britain, has released a new, hauntingly haunting album called “Friends that break your heart”. And he also blames himself for the social media blackout a few days ago.
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Stuttgart – When it looked like the social media world was going to end a few days ago, it was none other than James Blake who took all the blame: “I think the last photo I posted was Instagram broken. I should be more careful, ”he tweeted on Monday when Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram were down for several hours.
The weight of the world on his shoulders
Of course, it wasn’t the Briton’s fault. But this kind of humor might have surprised one or the other, because in James Blake’s songs incredibly large, emotionally charged worlds open up again and again, there is actually no room for jokes there. The repentant pose, on the other hand, is very familiar to his listeners. Blake’s songs always sound a little like he has to carry the burden of the whole world on his shoulders. This also applies to his new album “Friends that break your heart”, which will be released this Friday: a grandiose, intimate collection of songs between dubstep, chamber pop, art song and neosoul.
In his songs, however, he does not normally blame himself for the blackout of Internet platforms, but rather suffers from the failure of love in all its variations. This is also the case with the highly sensitive, soulful number “Famous last Words”, which opens Blake’s new album: between a sad, beautiful synthesizer motif that oscillates from left to right and a shrill string quartet, he sings beguilingly the end of a toxic relationship. And although the man pouring out his heart knows that he has been taken advantage of, he blames himself for everything, “I truely lost you this time”, he complains, translates his conflict into a hesitant beat and takes it on the sad reality again and again tears away into gospel-like and doo-wop harmonies.
Pieces like “Life is not the same”, “Show me”, “Funerelle” or the title track “Friends that break your Heart” are harrowing, incredibly quiet lamentations that only James Blake can manage. And like on the previous albums, this time it’s mostly not about what happens in the songs, but about what doesn’t happen in them. The gaps and gaps that open up between the piano chords, the vocal curlicues, the bass hum and the crackling and rustling of the beats make up the beauty of this art of song, which is quite unique in its intensity in the pop business.
Master of the omissions
However, on “Friends That Break Your Heart” James Blake does not rest on being the master of haunting night music, omissions and allusions, the silent nerd of pop. Instead, he relies more on dealing with other musicians than on any previous album, complements the R-‘n’-B number “Coming back” wonderfully with the singer SZA, and gives rapper JID a great one in “Frozen” Appearance – and in the video for “Say what you will” Billie Eilish’s brother and producer Finneas is the superstar – and James Blake proves once again that apart from his sad, romantic songs, he has a wonderfully quirky sense of humor.
James Blake: Friends that break your Heart. Universal. On May 7th, 2022 Blake will give his only Germany concert in the Verti Music Hall in Berlin.
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