It’ll be interesting to see where James Blake takes his sound after a couple of years that saw him release a critically acclaimed debut, a few duff tracks with Bon Iver and a return to the more exploratory experimentalism of his early releases. New album Overgrown is out on April 5th and ‘Retrograde’, the first single gives small pointers to where Mr. Blake is heading this time around. Its more succint combination of the singer-songwriter side of him, ‘Retrograde essentially is a song about a girl (“I’ll wait / so show me why you’re strong / Ignore everybody else / We’re alone now.”), and that unique plaintive electronic organ synth rise and fall that’s become his trademark. The song works in either form, so this could be Blake’s coat of best fit.
‘Retrograde’ is out now.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
