Simply two years on from his final album, post-dubstep pioneer James Blake has once more reinvented himself. Worlds aside from 2021’s ‘Associates That Break Your Coronary heart’, the Grammy-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer’s sixth album returns to the underground roots of his Hessle Audio, Hemlock and R&S Information days. Nodding to his earliest CMYK releases, the manufacturing high quality on ‘Enjoying Robots Into Heaven’ is persistently ingenious and hard-hitting – even in its quieter moments.
Whereas album opener ‘Asking To Break’ shares similarities along with his self-titled 2011 debut and 2013’s ‘Overgrown’, notably its lo-fi haziness and thunder crashes, the icy intimacy of these information is rapidly changed with propulsive beats that would do some critical injury. ‘Loading’ balances an emotional core with eventual ecstasy, as pulsing drums coalesce with somber organ chords. How the Blake manipulates his voice stays thrilling 14 years into his profession. It’s additionally telling that there aren’t any visitor options throughout these 11 tracks, in contrast to 2019’s hip-hop-leaning ‘Assume Type’ which hosted verses from André 3000, Travis Scott and Rosalía.
As ever, Blake’s singular imaginative and prescient ends in electrifying and revolutionary digital music. ‘Inform Me’ is stuffed with fascinating contrasts; as Blake sings “inform me if it’s price waking up for”, a gradual build-up pays off massively due to a synth explosion and all-out warehouse rave within the second half. Although extra underrated, the gospel-led glitches of ‘He’s Been Great’ are equally satisfying, whereas ‘Huge Hammer’ chops a Ragga Twins pattern over a dubstep breakdown.
While retaining one foot on the dancefloor, a extra mellow sonic palette signifies a special course for the album’s second half. Co-written by Pharrell Williams, ‘I Need You To Know’ finds cathartic magnificence in Blake’s mild and ethereal vocal. An artist who has lengthy identified when to drag again and present restraint, ‘Night time Sky’s woodwind part floats away like clouds relatively than climbing to a giant drop. ‘Fall Again’, with its home beat and 4 Tet-style drum machines, equally stays grounded regardless of its near-explosive finale.
The album’s closing third, contrastingly, hones in on Blake’s uncooked and reflective facet. Atop ‘Fireplace The Editor’s atmospheric soundscape and twinkling keys, he demonstrates actual emotional development, analysing how he’s overcome a concern of failure: “If I see him once more, greatest consider me, we’ll be having phrases.” Nearer ‘If You Can Hear Me (Advert Astra)’, constructed on a melancholic piano line, is one among Blake’s most affecting songs up to now. Because it strikes right into a cinematic, Interstellar-style association, the album ends as per its title, as ominous waves of sound transfer skywards.
Particulars
- Launch date: September 8
- Report label: Polydor
