James Blake: My Willing Heart
Pulling a Beyoncé? James Blake takes cue from his collaborator (having worked on two songs on Lemonade) and surprise drops The Colour in Anything. The 17-track album comes out of Blake, interestingly, opening himself up to collaboration as well. He calls Frank Ocean “a huge inspiration for this record” in a Pitchfork interview, and also works with Bon Iver, Connan Mockasin and Rick Rubin. The higher-pitched vocal manipulation opening in one of the standout tracks, “My Willing Heart,” unsettles before Blake’s voice comes in to pierce the heart, over some non-traditional samples that make up the meandering rhythm. Find the entire album streaming on Spotify—it’s one we’ll be sinking into slowly over the next few weeks.
