James Blake: The Colour In Anything

By Cindy Low  •  26 May 2016 in Review

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It should be public knowledge by now that The Colour In Anything is a body of work where James Blake opens himself up to external collaborations as the album sees writing and production contributions from the likes of Rick Rubin, Justin Vernon, and Frank Ocean. Still, the lyric writing is still rife with melancholy and longing that complements his spacious, minimal, and clinical productions. He writes beautifully and sings gorgeously about his mystification and careful, graceful writing of his lover’s elegance. Sometimes, however, the employment of repetition of words evoke a sense of obsessive possession over his feelings (“I can’t believe this, you don’t want to see me anymore”) as well as an embellishing element to the arrangements, as heard on ‘Radio Silence’ and ‘Points’. Though Kanye couldn’t appear on ‘Timeless’, the song still achieves a danceable characteristic with its sub-bass, jostling rhythms. The album closer ‘Meet Me In The Maze’ where James affixes his voice with autotune as he delivers a lovely allegory takes on different meaning with each listen (sorry, we can’t decipher it for you.)

Watch the music video for ‘I Need A Fire’ that features Bon Iver below:

jamesblakemusic.com