James Blake at Brixton Academy

With an extra date added at Brixton Academy due to overwhelming demand, James Blake’s Trying Times tour marks the seventh studio album from the Grammy Award winner, and his first as an independent artist.

The record details Blake’s reckoning of personal relationships with the chaos and uncertainty of the world at large. It’s his first release since abandoning major labels, railing against them for exploitative contracts and his “art not being honoured” – not an unfamiliar story in the age of streaming. An intimate string of solo shows last year publicised his new partnerships with a range of smaller organisations, and with renewed confidence, Blake is well-prepared to embark on this larger-scale tour.

The aptly named Walk Out Music showcases the talents of the band Blake’s assembled. Mount Kimbie’s Dom Maker recently joined the core lineup, and the finely wrought layers of instrumentation are faithfully reproduced in a live context. Stop What You’re Doing next treats Blake’s longtime fans to the dubstep forays of his earliest years. The 17-year gulf between these two tracks makes for a satisfying contrast from the minimal character of his earlier production to his current experiments with broad, almost orchestral arrangements.

Trying Times frequently positions Blake as more singer-songwriter than experimental producer: while there’s plenty of weird sound design and leftfield audio trickery across the set, Blake swaps the synthesiser for a guitar for the swinging I Had a Dream She Took My Hand. The track’s vintage soul-era chords arrive as a love letter to the style which informs much of his sound, but the strength of his back catalogue makes it hard for this new turn to fully hit the mark. Blake jokes that “there’s been a vicious rumour spread about me that I don’t like people singing at my gigs” before inviting the crowd to accompany him a capella.

Among Blake’s contributions, his input on Frank Ocean’s Blonde album ranks among the most celebrated. A hush settles on the Academy when gospel chords ring out to a simple opening phrase: “I will always love you / How I do.” For all his impact on the development of pop, rap and dance music, Godspeed proves that Blake’s merit begins with his vocal precision and sharp instincts as a composer. Soon after, Blake’s latest collaborator Dave joins the stage for Doesn’t Just Happen, contributing a brief verse that leaves a little more to be desired, if only for the deafening response he receives from the Brixton crowd.

Opening the encore with Retrograde, this early cut from his second album has an electrifying effect – the synthesised wall of sound fully envelops the Academy. Say What You Will’s lyrics reference his souring experiences in the corporate music industry: “I’ve been sobered by my time on the shelf,” but it’s clear tonight that Blake’s records aren’t gathering dust.

Ben Browning
Photos: Dean Lever @alldaydean

For further information and future events, visit James Blake’s website here.

Watch the video for Trying Times here: