| | | Ratings (101) |
Give your Rating |
| 0.0 | Xenophanes EMERITUS | October 7th 21 |
The artwork gives me the chills and makes me wanna vom.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Gene Gol CONTRIBUTOR | October 15th 21 |
The singles really got me pumped for something better than this. The album is maybe the most slogging work Blake has ever put out and several songs that were bangers as singles eventually drown in the samey, dizzy flow of the record.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | PrincyAli | October 14th 21 |
Solid vocal performances with textures that add substance. 3.5/5 Favs: Life Is Not The Same, Coming Back, Say What You Will, Lost Angel Nights, Friends That Break Your Heart, If I'm Insecure
Bump |
| 3.5 great | ajcollins15 | October 14th 21 |
At this point in James Blake's career, it seems like he is a little bit lost in what he wants to do with his sound. His sound has evolved drastically since his UK garage days in the early 2010s to now encompass a heavy dose of ambient pop and trip-hop. On his fifth album, he doubles down on that ambient pop sound and stripes back on the trip-hop influences. Tracks like ?Famous Last Words?, ?Life Is Not The Same?, ?Coming Back?, and ?Funeral? are all beautifully arranged and orchestrated tracks that blatantly look at sadness in its purest form. I can?t stop listening to them and feeling so cold and isolated and that?s what makes them great. Even tracks like ?Frozen? and ?I?m So Blessed You?re Mine? continue to show that isolation with more bombastic production. However, my biggest complaint with this new album is that James just isn?t changing things up enough on this album, which is weird because normally he is too all over the place. Also, the aesthetic of this album wears thin by the mid-point, and by the back half of the listen I really don?t care to finish it. So overall the best tracks continue to be huge highlights for me, but he continues to not be able to stick the landing.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | charlopiano | October 11th 21 |
Great production, and I love some of the early tracks, but the album completely loses me near the end
Bump |
| 3.2 good | Erwann S. STAFF | October 11th 21 |
Beautiful, yeah. Blake's vocal performance is constantly improving, but the soundscape tends to slightly fall in the background to let Blake's lyricism take the spotlight. Sure, there are gorgeous vocal harmonizes and lush strings, and the beat plus the melody makes him speak of L-O-V-E eloquently so evidently, yet the discourse always seems to take over whatever was musically constructed. It's basically a vocal album with some nice textures.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | LewisShaw | July 24th 21 |
Artwork is insane and the first single is very promising
Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | djunior | October 10th 24 |
| 2.5 average | doofy | January 9th 24 |
| 3.5 great | Polvo | September 12th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | NerdPunk | September 8th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Pangea | January 14th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | ARDCWE | December 28th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Luna | November 26th 21 |
| 3.0 good | gijsr | November 2nd 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Handers | October 25th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Trey STAFF | October 24th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Zofft | October 24th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | shem | October 22nd 21 |
| 2.5 average | jtswope | October 18th 21 |
| 3.5 great | bharry | October 12th 21 |
| 3.0 good | john | October 12th 21 |
| 3.5 great | NBA | October 11th 21 |
| 3.0 good | fog CONTRIBUTOR | October 11th 21 |
| 3.0 good | sevhar | October 10th 21 |
| 3.5 great | anat CONTRIBUTOR | October 9th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | iGuter | October 9th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Sowing STAFF | October 8th 21 |
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