Photo:
“I feel a little bit more weight of expectation on me this time around” explains alternative singer-songwriter James Blake after premiering some brand new material to small crowd at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Truth be told, if the rest of album number two sounds anything like what was showcased last night, Blake has absolutely nothing to worry about.
Kicking things off with a old instrumental number 'Air and Lack Thereof' , the 24-year old, along with his two accompanying bandmates, brought real intensity to the unique venue. The spine tingling opening to ‘I Never Learnt to Share’ followed, with the heart wrenching “my brother and my sister don’t speak to me, but I don’t blame them” lyric resonating around the room and reminding every member of the audience about the pure and natural ability of this young man.
Taking time to thank those in attendance for welcoming him back, Blake and co settled into the set with songs from his self-titled Mercury nominated debut album, showing absolutely no signs of rust in the process. With a blinding light show and trouser-shaking levels of bass, everyone remains still and respectfully silent, only breaking from their trance-like state to clap and whoop the obviously appreciative band.
There is never going to be a bad time to be reminded about how good a song such ‘Limit to Your Love’ is, there is however a perfect time to be reunited with it and this was it. As Blake shuffles around on his stool against a background of strobe lights, everything seems just perfect.
After such intensity a ‘CMYK’ reggae breakdown was not just well timed but well received with bobbing heads and feet shuffling allowing the 300-strong crowd to loosen up for the new tracks. Debuting a trio of new songs 'Our Love Comes Back', 'Digital Lion' and 'Overgrown', Blake explains that it could all go wrong as this is the first time playing these songs to more than just a few people. The new numbers though show signs of maturity in his song writing, the innovative arrangements are at times unbelievable as he just puts musical fusions together to create this wonderfully, intense sound.
Full of bold textures crafted together beautifully and precisely, Blake’s incomparable vocals are just wonderful as five new tracks are showcased in total. Breaking into a smile after a great reception from the crowd towards tracks from second album ‘Outgrown’, he ends with the first single off the new LP ‘Retrograde.’ This is an outstanding track and after a period without new material, this work of art is the only way to reintroduce yourself.
A truly magnificent show in a wonderful setting with a brilliant crowd. Only disappointment? It didn’t go on longer into the night.
.jpg)
