James Blake is a 30 year old singer/songwriter & producer Enfield, London, England United Kingdom who made his critically acclaimed eponymous debut in 2011 under A&M Records. He would move over to Republic Records for an equally praised sophomore effort Overgrown & The Colour in Anything has been considered to be the weakest entry in his whole discography although it’s merely average, coming off the latter with his 4th studio album ahead of his forthcoming North American tour.
The title track starts us off singing to his girlfriend Jameela Jamil over a piano & some strings whereas the cloudy alternative R&B/trap soul single “Mile High” featuring Travis Scott is all about having sex on a plane over a smooth Metro Boomin’ instrumental. “Tell Them” by Moses Sumney is about how he doesn’t plan on staying with this woman over a skeletal Metro beat while “Into the Red” talks about keeping this woman in her life.
“Barefoot in the Park” by Rosalía is a powerfully minimalist ballad sung in Spanish while “Can’t Believe the Way We Flow” seems to tackle loneliness over some background vocals.the song “Are You in Love?” sees James asking this woman if she’s attracted to him over an ambient instrumental with some synthesizers while “Where’s the Catch?” featuring André 3000 talks about how they can’t be deceived over a dark electropop instrumental.
The song “I’ll Come Too” might be my least favorite track here & it has more to do with the stalker-ish lyrics than the mellow beat while “Power On” discusses how he was wrong about this woman over a soothing beat. “Don’t Miss It” talks about his depression over a fusion alternative R&B, art pop, alt-pop, glitch pop, future garage, pop soul & post-dubstep while the album lastly finishes with “Lullaby for My Insomniac”, which is mostly this choral ambient pop piece.
It might not be on par with self-titled or Overgrown, but I can say that I enjoyed Assume Form a lot more than his previous LP. His production refines the fusions of alternative R&B, art pop, ambient pop, UK bass, trap soul, alt-pop, glitch pop, future garage, pop soul & post-dubstep that made The Colour of Anything so different compared to both it’s predecessors aside except it has an upbeat twist to it & he brings a few high profile guests to join him for a look at the way he’s been feeling as of late.
Score: 3.5/5
Legends Will Never Die 