Measurements

New James Blake bit today, showcasing the more vocal side to his production that his cover of Fiest's The Limit To Your Love also uses. Blake discussed this side to his production with Giles Peterson on his recent Radio 1 interview and guest mix, which is long gone from the BBC's Iplayer system but well worth seeking out if you've not heard it.

The synths scream James Blake, but his treatment of vocals and percussion are a radical change from James' previous productions, eschewing his 2-step on PCP approach to drum programming, and his habit of throwing vocals through a million auto-tuners and vocoders, here the vocals are layered into harmonies but left largely untreated, and the percussion is so subtle as to be almost incidental. This one is all about Blake's voice, and when it's a voice that good, there's no problem with that. Blake is reportedly going to put out an entire release of this kind of thing - softer, less dancefloor friendly (if his music ever was), largely piano and vocals stuff, and this has, for me anyway, a very exciting prospect musically. Whether it will come out on R&S like the recent CMYK EP, and whether it will be merely a 12" or an EP/LP only time will tell, but whatever the format, it is sure to be worth the wait.

Edit: just read Blakes' recent Xlr8r interview (find that here), and there's a quote about this vocal release:

"The second [R&S release] will draw from recordings i did recently of

myself singing and playing piano—more introspective

and personal. i'm also working on a vocal album

of electronic production but of my (unadulterated)

voice. it's pretty minimalist in vocal arrangement, and

the production serves the voice, not the other

way round."

Deep.