James Blake articulates the pain of sundered friendships on ‘Friends That Break Your Heart’
No one wears their heart on their sleeve quite like 33-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer James Blake. This couldn’t be made much clearer by his 2019 LP Assume Form, detailing his joy at being in love with long-term partner Jameela Jamil. His most recent release is very much as human and as raw as its successor. Friends That Break Your Heart is an album about the pain of sundered friendships. We all know how painful losing a friend can be – “It hurts like the end of the world” James sings on track 3 ‘Coming Back’. Interestingly, the album seems to apply the vow from Assume Form. Lighter and more digestible, it feels like Blake’s most traditional album, and has truly assumed a conventional form this time around: a collection of ultra-linear, lyrics-first ballads that are a true expression of himself.
FTBYH begins with ‘Famous Last Words’, setting the scene for what is to be one of Blake’s most personal albums. The opening line captures the heartbreak that Blake illustrates throughout the entire twelve tracks, “I can’t believe I’m still talking about you/That feeling, I should’ve lost it now”. He is finding it hard to accept that he and his friend are no longer what they used to be. The album continues with ‘Life Is Not The Same’, a commentary on his life having lost touch with a best friend. It acts as a reflection on the first song, looking back retrospectively on the friendship – “I wore your favourite clothes/I said the things you’d say/But that was yesterday”. Track 3, ‘Coming Back’ is the real heart and soul of the record, though. Featuring female singer SZA, it opens with bright piano chords that flutter before the 808s and hi-hats kick in to create a moment of intensity, which the majority of other songs of the record truly lack.
‘Famous Last Words’ by James Blake on YouTube
The midway track ‘Foot Forward’ provides an enjoyable production element, that being the looped piano sample throughout the song. Co-produced by hip-hop producer Metro Boomin and Frank Dukes, it creates a mid-tempo groove that James rides playfully. Blake’s use of repetition is in service of rhythm and forward motion, hence the song title, a rather intriguing ‘Easter Egg’. ‘Friends That Break Your Heart’, the title track, then follows. Its sparse arrangement makes room for James’ incredible vocal range to take the foreground. As is the case for many of these songs, he’s singing about losing friends with a twinge of bitterness in every word. “As many loves that have crossed my path,” he sings, “In the end it was friends/It was friends who broke my heart.” Interestingly, whilst there’s a simplicity to these lyrics, their directness is stark in comparison to the rest of Blake’s catalogue. He normally leaves much to the imagination, or gives abstract details about people and things, leaving the listener to interpret the lyrics by themselves.
The album comes to a close with ‘If I’m Insecure’, which sees Blake beginning to accept the change in his life, without his friend. “How have I been so sure that I’m gonna care for you?/Until I am no more”. He wishes his friend well and acknowledges that he will always care for him, but from a distance, rounding off the album’s narrative of coming to terms with loss of friends.
The album, then, whilst being great in and of itself, sits awkwardly in Blake’s discography. It was a giant leap of faith away from his previous sound, which thrived with interesting and experimental production taking the foreground, especially as seen on Assume Form. If this was your first time hearing him, you might be forgiven for thinking this was his opus, the greatest he could achieve. But for a long-time fan of Blake, it is painful to hear him conform to our traditional conception of music so much. He became famed because he would push the boundaries sonically. It’s an amazing album, with a deep and relatable concept underpinning it, but it is possible to see how it could have been expanded on. Nevertheless, it is a brilliant album and one of the better releases this year.