JAMES BLAKE
chats with Laura Albert about his new album
“Friends That Break Your Heart”
Photography Camraface
Fashion Editor Deborah Ferguson
James Blake is a well-known name in the music industry. Blake is an English singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer, known for his unique sound that creates an echoing harmony between emotional soul-filled vocals and distorted electronic dubstep sound. He has earned critical acclaim since the beginning of his career in 2009, with many noting his poeticism, careful curation, and minimalistic sound which are elements that had not often accompanied the electronic beats that inspired Blake in mid-2000s London. He is also well-known for his musical collaborations: “Forward” on Beyoncé’s Lemonade, “I Need a Forest Fire” with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon for Blake’s The Colour in Anything, and Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Future for “King’s Dead” on the soundtrack album for Black Panther which earned Blake a Grammy. He has also produced cuts on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN, and JAY-Z’s 4:44.
Blake’s most recent project is his fifth album Friends That Break Your Heart, set to be released on October 8, 2021, and will feature guest spots from SZA, Monica Martin, and others. Preceding the album’s release, he has led with a gorgeous track titled “Say What You Will” and an accompanying video in collaboration with Finneas. The track centers around finding peace in yourself, which Blake tells us is one theme on the album. Laura Albert chatted with Blake about composing the sound for Friends That Break Your Heart, his experience in quarantine, his inspirations, and plans for the future.
Interview by LAURA ALBERT
Intro by Tessa Swantek
Coat, Sweater and Pants: Zegna F21, Sneakers: New Balance
L: Congratulations on your new album! During quarantine, you kept busy creating and recording covers and originals. I know you’ve spoken about the importance of interaction with your fans through social media. What would you say are the pros and cons of social media for a musician?
J: The cons are that I’m quite easily overwhelmed and if I look at it for too long, I get anxious because I think that’s the effect social media has – it’s usually better for me to be focusing on other things than reading the comments of strangers online. There’s also the constant and unavoidable comparison which is a theme I focused on in the album, and how that sucks the joy out of things.
I think the obvious pro is that it’s connective and I use it to stay in touch with so many people. The fact that I can wake up one day and read a comment that says we’d love a live performance on Instagram, and I can go ‘yep, I’ll do that’ and just switch my phone on and perform a few songs is great. Over the quarantine, it’s helped me feel connected and feel that buzz of live performances – obviously in person will be much better, though it does feel similar on IG Live.
As somebody who had spent most of my life in that mode of being connected to people on stage and having that love sent back to me, the live performances have been great for me to just pop in and be so easily connected again. That and I’m a sucker for abstract comedy on TikTok so those keep bringing me back into it.
L:Your sound is evolving even as it maintains its distinct alluring quality. When you begin a project, do you lay out a thematic canvas on which to create, or do you gather different pieces together and let them determine the sound and theme of an album?
J: I gather different pieces together and they determine what the overall direction of the album will be. While I’m writing, it usually helps to just see what comes and not worry so much about the overall vision of the sonic palette of the album.
Having said that, and having just finished an album, in the last few weeks I’ve been having all of these thoughts about how the next one is going to sound, and to be honest, I do actually have a very clear image about how it is going to sound which hasn’t really happened before for me. But then, in time I might decide to do something else, so it varies.
Suit, Shirt and Shoes: Acne Studios F21
L:What was your approach in composing the music of Friends That Break Your Heart? Were there any surprises or changes in direction as you were polishing its sound?
J:There was one surprise which is that we went into a global pandemic and I, like everybody else, was just on panic stations for a little while and in complete isolation with only the people I live with which changed everything. It changed how I was living, how I was thinking, and it was suddenly a completely different world where there was no possibility of collaboration. As we slowly started to come out of lockdown, I was able to start finishing the record off which was one of the silver linings of my lockdown existence.
L: You have collaborated with a wide range of musicians, from Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper and Brian Eno to Bon Iver and Beyoncé. Can you describe what you think you’ve learned from working with different artists?
J: I think I’ve learned to let an idea see it’s logical conclusion and not to interrupt creativity before it’s really had a chance to flourish. I think a lot of ideas start out as something rough and it’s very easy to feel embarrassed by them or shy away from them, but usually if something comes naturally then there will be some way of finding a home for it- one that’s more comfortable and one that works and sometimes one that’s brilliant. That goes for myself but is mostly when I’m witnessing other people’s ideas too. My own ideas I tend to question more, just like anyone really, but I think collaboration has taught me how to edit myself and how to let myself live.
Jacket & Pants: Kenzo F21, Zip front parka: New Balance, Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo
L:Do you have any plans to move into acting and/or directing?
J: I don’t have any plans to move into acting or directing, but after acting in the “Say What You Will” music video alongside Finneas and really enjoying doing a bit of physical comedy, it’s not something I’d completely rule out for the future.
L: Your virtuosity as pianist and vocalist indicates a thorough musical training. Is there a genre you used to listen to when you were younger, which you would say has influenced your music, but may not be so obvious in your releases?
J: Classical music probably, I don’t know how obvious that influence is within my work. I’ve taken a lot of cues from classical music, and it’s informed my piano playing, melody, harmony, everything really.
L: Your music and lyrics create vivid images. Are there other non-musical arts that you draw inspiration from?
J: To be honest, I pull most of my inspiration from situations I’m in or phrases I hear. If I’m watching a movie and get inspired by it, it’s usually the interactions and the emotions that make me creatively excited. I’m not sure if I am visually stimulated into making music – that doesn’t mean I don’t love visual art or fashion, I do, but the things that make me want to make music usually come from emotional stimuli.
L: Considering the strong refined poeticism in your lyrics, I must ask if you’ve considered writing and publishing poetry – or prose?
J: I have occasionally thought about it, though I’m not sure if I really need to because you see that in all of my songs. I write a song the same way I would write a poem, in fact I think my poems would probably be more wordy and less accessible than my music, so I’m not sure the world needs that.
L: When you work as a producer, what qualities do you look for in your collaborators?
J: I’m usually looking for openness, someone with a very inquisitive mind when it comes to sonics, someone who’s genuinely just excited to hear new things being made and to make new things and see where they go. That’s exciting to me. It’s nice to meet someone when they’re in an open frame of mind because that’s not always the case and I think that a lot of collaboration is assessing whether I am in the right state of mind to collaborate or if somebody else is and then, you know, deciding to stay or leave based on that.
L: Congratulations on Friends That Break Your Heart, looking forward to its release.
Jacket & Pants: Kenzo F21, Zip front parka: New Balance, Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo
Photography
Camraface
Creative Direction & Fashion Editor
Deborah Ferguson
Interview
Laura Albert
Grooming
Candice Birns @StatementArtists
Fashion Assistant
Juan Marco Torres
Web Layout
Tori Smith
Listen to “Friends That Break Your Heart” here:
