James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart ALBUM REVIEW

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This album cover really makes this seem like a prog-rock record, so now I want a James Blake prog-rock album.


James Blake has been an artist I’ve admired for quite a long time. He’s among some of my favorite artists ever and has worked with some of the more impressive artists working now. I really don’t think he’s ever made a bad album, but after doing some research, not a lot of people were fans of his last album, Assume Form. While I don’t think it was his best album, it wasn’t bad by any means. Now, with a new album titled Friends That Break Your Heart, it seems like he’s back for now. With collaborators like SZA, J.I.D, SwaVay, and Monica Martin, it seems like he’s primed for success yet again. Let’s see how he did.

I think that the thing that people go to Blake for is nailed across the board, and that’s the vocals. I’ve always loved them, and they’re still as good as they normally are. I also think that Blake’s songwriting stands out even more here than his past albums. His writing’s never been bad by any means, but I feel like it stands out so much more on this album for some reason. When it comes to the production, I think it’s pretty beautiful and I think it speaks for itself once you hear it. Even if the SZA track did kind of underwhelm me, J.I.D has been on a monster feature run lately and I can’t wait for The Forever Story. Overall, I think that this is just a damn good album that hopefully won’t be overlooked as the years go by.


8/10


Listen here

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Friends That Break Your Heart is a Republic Records release.

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