New Music (5.11.2016)

James Blake
The Colour in Anything

The surprise release of James Blake's third full-length album came at exactly the right time: the middle of what may turn out to be a month-long soaking rain shower that would give Noah hydrophoby. And while The Colour in Anything may have had us waiting for what seemed like an eternity, it show us that Blake's brand of gloomy, post-dubstep soul is only getting better with age.

Blake is at his best here, making vocal loops and layers that are only comparable to his own "Retrograde." And on this album, he overdrives his synth and electronics use to gorgeous effect: his maximalist approach to The Colour in Anything is so appropriate in its ability to highlight his otherwise dreary tone, it could be a suitor in a Jane Austen novel.

A few critics are tuning out the album as not being cohesive, as Blake's 2013 Overgrown was. But Overgrown was actually the outlier in his work. No other album or EP flowed or had one set, standard theme. You can't keep James Blake in a box, dammit! His strength is experimentation and providing the listener an aural cornucopia: some songs are upbeat, some are sad; some songs are overfull with beats and loops, some are just a piano and Blake's resplendent voice.

The Colour in Anything is also brilliant at highlighting Blake's many influences over the past three years. "Choose Me" sounds like a chamber choir deconstructing a Perfume Genius song. "I Need a Forest Fire," uses Bon Iver's collaboration to the maximum possible. The title track--a simple voice and piano tune--is not only beautiful, but also points to his long musical affair with Feist. And while "Love Me in Whatever Way" sounds like classic James Blake, it also accentuates how operatic and colorful he can make a simple electronic beat and looped vocal.

Blake's third album may be long, and it may not flow, but he hasn't released anything better, and that's saying a lot considering he's already won one Mercury Prize and been nominated for another. The Colour in Anything is a message to those thinking grey skies follow them everywhere: even in the dead of winter, even in a hurricane, the day is bright and full of grandeur.