REVIEW: James Blake, Assume Form

James Blake, Assume Form (Warp)

With the ice and snow settled firmly in every crevice of the city, James Blake’s emotionally raw celestial vocals, on the first listen to Assume Form, sound bleak. But paying attention to the warm-hearted celestial chords that open the album, it sounds like freedom from the previous lamenting albums that Blake has released. Richly layered production of flute flutters, melodic piano structures, strings, deep bass and trap snares are paired with features from Rosalía, André 3000, Travis Scott, Moses Sumney and Metro Boomin. The total package is a genre-bending trip discussing mental states, love, especially romantic love — largely due to Blake’s current partner, as he explained on Twitter. This is the type of music that a Lord Byron/Al Bowlly hybrid, who’s friends with the generation’s top hip hop innovators, would make. 10/10 Trial Track: “Barefoot in the Park” ft. Rosalía