Stream James Blake’s New Album Assume Form
James Blake almost got away with dropping yet another new record with little advance notice. But two weeks ago, Amazon fucked up and gave us something to look forward to.
Since then, Blake has been teasing Assume Form, his fourth full-length and follow-up to 2016’s The Colour In Anything, on billboards and social media, only to spill all the hard details last Thursday. And today, just hours before the album’s official release, he shared two new songs from the album: the Travis Scott- and Metro Boomin-featuring “Mile High” as well as ghostly album closer “Lullaby For My Insomniac.” We’ve already heard penultimate track “Don’t Miss It,” which Blake released last year.
Today, Assume Form is here, and it’s the moody Brit’s most accessible solo work to date. He’s not as anxious, not as caught up in his own head. He’s traded his confessional piano ballads for wired, jumping pop tunes. And he’s surrendered to being corny and gushy and in love. It’s not so much a reinvention as it is the convergence of the excitable James Blake from so many collaborations with the subdued minimalist behind his solo work. The record was co-produced with Mount Kimbie’s Dominic Maker, and it features guest appearances from Travis Scott, André 3000, Metro Boomin, Rosalía, and Moses Sumney.
Stream the album below, and read our Premature Evaluation for the full breakdown.
Assume Form is out now via Republic Records.