James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart Review
Hello, the worst best music reviewer is here to grace you with his presence once again. Hope your October has been going well, I think mine has. Originally this month I was planning to review the new James Blake record, Playing Robots Into Heaven, but I ended up not liking it as much as I expected which is why I present to you a review of this other James Blake album instead. It's one of my favourites, so I really hope I did it justice. Happy reading!
Friends That Break Your Heart, released October 8 2021, is the 5th studio album by singer and producer James Blake. Being 10 years detached from his monumental self-titled debut record James Blake, in many ways this project perfectly illustrates how artistically, James has changed from the indie artist that crafted alternative dubstep beats. In more ways than one, this is James Blake's most straightforward project yet, something that you could cite as a weakness given his reputation.
Still, even if this project isn't as boundary shattering or unpredictable as some of James Blake's other records, all the same, the creative visionary's mark can still be felt. You still have what every James Blake record has. Pleasant production that's a wonderful blend of both synthetic and acoustic sounds, and very prominently, beautifully sung vocals, which on this album impressively range from something like the sharp piercing chorus on Life Is Not The Same to the soothing lullaby singing on Show Me. In fact, you'd be very hard pressed to find a single weak vocal line throughout the entire record. Collectively all of these attributes result in a record that for the most part, feels genuinely flawless.
A good example of James' masterful balladry is the intro track, Famous Last Words. This is without a doubt one of James' best performances: some simple synths and faint key loops let his soft vocals take center stage and they appropriately shine, especially during the chorus and the dramatic "This time" line at the end of both verses. There's not much in terms of development besides the addition of a violin during the bridge and the final chorus, but its more than enough to allow the song to become a standout on the tracklist.
The following Life Is Not The Same, with productions credits from Take A Daytrip and Joji carries a bit of a different appeal. I may be a teeny bit biased, but you can really feel Joji's musical influence throughout the track, from the background vocal humming (that may actually be Joji himself I'm not sure) to the little teeter tapping sound detail right before the chorus' second appearance. Of course, the star of the show is James's sharp, haunting vocals, both on the verses and the previously mentioned chorus, but a close listen reveals some simple, yet very pretty piano chords lurking in the background.
From here, the record carries on very naturally. Coming Back and Foot Forward are both pop-flavoured anthems with more active beats. They definitely don't end up being my absolute favourite songs, but the tempo switch up is still appreciated. By contrast, Funeral is wonderfully leisured and somber, a lonesome high-pitched vocal harmony in the background tonally and sonically setting it apart from your typical James Blake slow ballad. However, the album reaches its first and only hitch with two experimental songs in the middle. The former, Frozen with rappers JID & SwaVay is great, a captivating fusion of many different musical ideas and styles
I cannot say the same for the latter, I'm So Blessed You're Mine, which is a shame given that many of its musical elements carry a lot of promise. For one, I quite like the dreamy atmosphere of the intro, which is adorned by these blissful keys that give off this nice winter wonderland like feeling. But oh my, the repetitive high pitched chorus that is backed by synths that meander into nowhere is just so silly and off-putting. All in all, the song throws out a lot of different, interesting sounds but by far works best when the keys and normal vocals return. The ending is decent with its excessive layering of different instrumentation and vocal layers, but it still doesn't do enough to save it from the insufferable chorus.
Luckily, the latter half of this album is just as strong as the beginning. Show Me, Say What You Will, and Lost Angel Nights are another set of ballads, each feels built off the same baseline while still carrying its own respective tone: Show Me and Lost Angel Nights are amazingly lush and tender, while Say What You Will is a commendable moment of self-reflection. Collectively they contribute to the greater picture of the record, which brings us to the subject of theming. Without context, in accordance with 2019's Assume Form most of the songs on this album just sound like love songs. While by no means is that an incorrect interpretation, it disregards how partially and maybe even predominantly the album is about platonic falling outs, betrayals, and most importantly, loss. Hence the title Friends That Break Your Heart.
These themes become most clear on the album's title track, Friends That Break Your Heart. One specific line from the chorus perfectly sums it all up: "And as many loves that have crossed my path \ it was friends who broke my heart". Appropriately, the tone of the song is very intimate with a lightly-strummed guitar and an almost asmr-like?? vocal recording that makes me feel like I'm sitting right there next to him as performs. Even more so than on the rest of the album, the singing performance is incredibly delicate and the emotional lyrics are in a way, very much relatable.
Finally, there's the dramatic closer, If I'm Insecure, which fittingly ends off the album on a hopeful note. Within the slow, soaring vocals a simple, endearing message is communicated: "If I'm insecure, how have I been so sure | That I'm gonna care for you, t'il I am no more." It's really beautiful.
On the Apple Music description of Friends That Break Your Heart, James Blake states that "5th records are actually a lot of people's best records.'' Looking at this album, I'd really have to agree with him. While James Blake's music has always been more or less about the same thing, making pretty sounds, here he presents his talents in its most direct form yet. Does he completely reinvent the wheel? No, but it's incredibly impressive how cleanly executed this album is between the vocals, production, pacing, songwriting, structuring, etc. If this isn't perfect balladry, I don't know what is.
Friends That Break Your Heart / James Blake / Alt R&B
Final score: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: Famous Last Words, Funeral, Show Me, Lost Angel Nights, Friends That Break Your Heart, If I'm Insecure
Least Favourite Track: I'm So Blessed You're Mine
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I’m new to this whole blogging thing, so if you have any feedback, criticisms, questions, or suggestions for what I should review next, I heavily encourage you to leave a comment.
thank you kai for the beautiful post and the fact that your donation really helped me out dude, thanks for helping me out with my hard times and lifting that building off my back and buying me a lamborghini so i could see my mom in the hospital
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