'Trying Times:' A True Full-Circle Moment for James Blake
“Earlier on, I was chasing things. Now, I feel like I’m circling back to what I really care about,” the former Hypebeast digital cover star shared of his first self-released endeavor – which also happens to be his favorite record to date.
“I think I’m just more aware now,” the newly independent James Blake very poignantly reflected during his digital cover shoot. “Earlier on, I was chasing things. Now, I feel like I’m circling back to what I really care about.”
The balladeering Brit has singlehandedly carved out his ethereal electronic ether from the ground up, now boasting a discography as expansive in sonics as it is in size. His newest full-length studio endeavor – which marks not only his seventh solo LP, but more impressively, his first project release as an independent artist – is entitled Trying Times, and it further fleshes out Blake’s synth-soaked, R&B-tinged creative world.
He also deems the album his “favorite” of his entire discography. “I think something that’s different about this new record is that there’s a decision to connect with the voice at the center of it,” Blake shared with us in the same interview.
“And a goal to connect with the people in the crowd and to connect directly. I’m not making myself a texture in the overall composition, but rather making myself the messenger. That makes me excited. Otherwise, it’s like why would I put so much effort into showing people a painting that I’m in the background of?”
1. Walk Out Music
2. Death Of Love
3. I Had A Dream She Took My Hand
4. Trying Times
5. Make Something Up
6. Didn’t Come To Argue (ft. Monica Martin)
7. Days Go By
8. Doesn’t Just Happen (ft. Dave)
9. Obsession
10. Rest Of Your Life
11. Through The High Wire
12. Feel It Again
13. Just A Little Higher
Across Trying Times‘ 13 tracks, Blake traverses the faultlines of our fractured reality, lifting a range of sonic influences from a plethora of different pockets of inspiration across and making stops at a myriad of hard-to-swallow pills – that grow a bit easier to swallow when penned and produced by Blake and doused in his sleek, signature melodies.
Contextualized amidst our dystopian, digitally driven day-to-day, Trying Times merges intimacy and solitude, traditional rhythmic tropes with tried-and-true Blakesian innovation, and introspection and timely thematic matter to immerse listeners in a captivating sonic delivery eerily reminiscent of the 21st century.
“I feel like this new music deserves a chance to see what would happen if I gave it my all,” he told us. We couldn’t agree more. Stream Trying Times, out everywhere now, and revisit our recent cover story here.
