James Blake's "Enough Thunder" EP was a little colder than his debut, a little more unfriendly. There might've been beauty and genius in there, but on tracks like Bon Iver collaboration "Fall Creek Boys Choir", there was a distance and unwillingness to emote. The only real warmth came from "A Case of You"... a Joni Mitchell cover, and the only other track Blake had performed based on piano and voice since breakthrough "Limit To Your Love".
Until Now. New single "Retrograde" is a total relief, a revelation and a triumphant sign that Blake is no mere BBC Sound-of-year flash in the pan. A seemingly complex acrobatic vocal hook becomes somehow unforgettable by the end of the song, and Blake's voice seems confident and utterly heartwarming. An uncharacteristically straight beat carries the song from balladic to euphoric territory, with synths advancing on the song, threatening to swallow it whole, but unlike in the defeatist "Wilhelm Scream", the song and Blake stand their ground and never before has his singer-songwriter persona seemed so foregrounded.
With his sophomore effort "Overgrown" out in April, it is time to welcome a new, improved James Blake with open arms; fitter, happier, more productive and, musically, more arresting than ever.
FOR FANS OF: Radiohead, Bon Iver, Jamie XX
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