James Blake Brings Back the Weirdness With ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’: Album Review
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Newer fans may not be aware that in the early years of his career, James Blake’s music was really, really weird.
The largely instrumental tracks featured lots of blipping, angular grooves and warped sounds and voices that were initially totally disorienting but would always coalesce into something melodic or rhythmic (if sometimes testing the boundaries of coherence).
While his music never really lost that element of surprise and disorientation, it hasn’t always been prominent in his albums, especially since his 2013 sophomore outing “Overgrown,” which introduced a soulfulness that his colder, more aloof debut lacked; in some ways, it seemed like he had been intentionally hiding his formidable melodic abilities, like a teenager who didn’t want his tough friends to know he’s actually a virtuoso violinist.
A lot of Blake’s later weirder tracks were aired on his BBC radio show from the early 2010s, or found outlets in his collaborations with rappers like Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar or more left-field artists.
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