James Blake - Overgrown

James Blake has the knack for making bleak, yet elegant and entrancing electronic music. His bleakness has varied over the years, with his acclaimed debut self-titled record being his most bleak, while Assume Form is the least with hypnotizing features from 3 Stacks, Rosalia, and Moses Sumney. I think that his follow-up to his debut is his best balanced in terms of this bleakness to elegance ratio.

James is able to display this healthy balance immediately on the opening track Overgrown with the peaceful backing pianos and synths, while singing about the troubles of stardom and love. The next tracks I Am Sold and Life Round Here highlight the mastery that James has with making complete electronic compositions. I Am Sold again has backing instrumentals that compliment his voice, but he also uses a loop of himself as an instrumental as well. This instrumental acts as an echo, reverbing across imaginary walls in the electronic space that James has created. The song then blends into Life Round Here, which represents some of his best work with regards to building a complete song. It starts with peaceful backing drums and James singing about a broken relationship, leading into industrial synths after the first verse. This continues until the second chorus, where the listener is ascending to what I would describe as a whirlwind of the electronic soundscape, with an even more complex build on the industrial synths, interspersed with a loop of his own voice. This is my personal favorite moment of the album as it packs the most emotional punch that we hear from James on the record.

While James Blake’s debut is a fantastic display of electronic music, I believe that Overgrown shows why he has continued to be such a large influence in the industry as his ability to balance production and elegance is needed to successfully produce for artists such as Beyonce, Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar. James Blake is currently one of, if not the best electronic scene today, so I highly recommend listening to this record if you would like to get into one of the best in the business.