Assume Form

Let's just get this out of the way: James Blake is my favorite artist of all time, and this is my favorite album of his. I'm aware James Blake is not for everyone; his instrumentation is pretty far left field, he can read as depressed, and his lyrics are often unintelligible. But, as I've said before, James Blake makes music that sounds the way life feels to me.

Okay, so that's out of the way.

From quite literally the first note of the album I had goosepimples (as they call it across the pond), and that remained fairly consistent throughout the next 48 minutes. After about a minute into the title track I said, out loud, "ooooh I think James Blake is in love", only to find out soon after that he is indeed dating one Miss Jameela Jamil. The best way I can describe this album is to say that it shows. It is by far his warmest and most audible album. Apparent through even the music itself is the clarity, hope, and peace that love has brought into his life

Let's talk about the music for a minute. It's still very James Blake - you get rolling, trap-adjacent drums, loops with timing that shouldn't work but totally does, and tons of original samples, all overlaid by some beautiful piano and, finally, topped with his crackling voice. But replacing most of the overbearing synths this time around is either open space or James really, really stretching his voice into new octaves. His voice had always been enjoyably unique, but with this offering I would venture to say it's just plain good.

Speaking of voices, let's check out the features list. Hmm? Andre 3k? Moses Sumney? Rosalía? Yeah I think we're good. But also Travis Scott? I'll go on record saying Travis Scott is overrated; he's squarely in the mumble rap + autotune camp to me. My criticism with this album pertains to this choice, but strangely not because of Travis Scott himself. Mile High bangs, and Travis' verse is kind of perfect within it, but throughout his career, James has always used rap features as a crutch. He simplifies or dilutes the instrumentation to give the feature a pocket, but so much so that it loses its character. Travis naturally talk-sings so he's better suited to float over the top of the track as-is, but Andre gets caught on that crutch, and the song suffers for it. I wish James would make the rappers work a little bit harder on melody-matching and keep the flavoring bits in their sections. I think it's a worthy risk.

Other than that, I have no complaints. Assume Form is near perfect; it is, as usual, in a genre between many, timely but not trendy, and abstract without being unrelatable. Further, it is, by far, James Blake's most inviting work to date. It's a story of hope, and a shining example of the transformative power of love. Sorry to get all cliché, but doesn't it feel much warmer, just knowing the sun will be out?

Rating: 9.5

Favorite Song: Barefoot In The Park