James Blake
The Colour in Anything

They were released practically on the same days. The Radiohead, led by vocalist and frontman Thom Yorke, have just released their latest album, 'A Moon Shaped Pool' (XL Recordings). As usual, produced by Nigel Godrich, whom we could define as the sixth Radiohead, the band has reached their ninth studio album. Released last May 8, the album was clearly highly anticipated by the multitude of the band's fans, and this is also because seven years have passed since the release of their previous album, 'King of Limbs' (2011), in which they usually experimented a lot in the field of electronics and genres like dub-step and perhaps for this reason disappointed their listeners in some way, who evidently prefer other sounds more.

I haven't listened to this new album, but it seems to sound completely different from 'King of Limbs', so there are serious chances that this could be considered some kind of 'return', a return to sounds that have made this band incredibly famous and followed over the years. In any case, the album immediately reached the top spot on the UK album chart and is already receiving excellent reviews and opinions with the inevitable consequence that by the end of the year, it could very well be considered one of the 'best of the year' according to critics and the public.

On the same days, precisely last May 6, the English singer-songwriter and producer James Blake released his third studio album via Polydor Records. 'The Colour In Everything'. The album was recorded at Shangri La Studios with the famous producer Rick Rubin and with collaborations with other famous artists such as Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Volcano Choir), Frank Ocean, and Cannon Mockasin. Apparently, a collaboration with Kanye West was about to happen, who was supposed to be involved in the project, but it fell through.

In any case, I am sure that this will be the album that will definitively establish James Blake as one of the most popular and acclaimed pop artists of our time and this not only concerning the United Kingdom.

Born on September 26, 1988, the twenty-seven-year-old artist from London, UK, was immediately acclaimed as the next big thing of 2011 upon the release of his first album, universally acclaimed as one of the most interesting 'debuts' of the year. Two years later, 'Overgrown', released in 2013 and produced by Brian Eno, perhaps received even greater recognition, including the Mercury Prize and a Grammy Award nomination. We are talking, evidently, about a young man who is gaining increasing popularity and who in these years has also been involved in relevant collaborations in the world of more commercial pop music, not least the collaboration with Beyoncé for the album 'Lemonade', and who is now about to be consecrated as one of the most influential artists of these years.

The new album immediately appears as something pretentious, it certainly is in my opinion, also because it has a total length of over seventy minutes and consists of as many as seventeen songs. In practice, it has a total duration equal to twice that of his previous works. It is in any case something unusual for a pop music album and for an artist who, if we want, has always been acclaimed and considered for having a, how shall we say, 'minimalist' approach. I don't know, but I believe he still made a specific choice in that sense and if his goal was to shock or in any case 'aim high', I think he succeeded in his intent. The album contains seventeen songs, but none of these seem to be fillers. The album has its solidity, it is a solid liquid electronic pop and rhythm and blues-tinged music album.

At this point, I would not say that there is any track that is more relevant than the others. The collaboration with Justin Vernon on two songs is something interesting and worth mentioning and especially for the last track of the album, 'Meet You In The Maze' (the other is 'I Need A Forest Fire'), where the two experiment a lot with the use of voices. And it is undeniable that Justin Vernon, whether you like it or not, certainly has a peculiar and very expressive voice. 'My Willing Heart', the song resulting from the collaboration with Frank Ocean and influenced by soulful sounds, is probably my favorite among all those on the album at the moment.

It would be reductive to consider this album as just another episode like many others in the world of electronic pop music influenced by soulful and rhythm and blues sounds. Some songs, such as the title track, 'The Colour In Anything', have the hallmarks of pop pieces that could very well enter radio rotation or on television. While other instances, why not, made me think precisely of the Radiohead. Try listening to 'Choose Me', I could be wrong, but tell me if it doesn't sound incredibly similar to how some Radiohead songs might sound.

The Radiohead were certainly the greatest pop band in circulation between the nineties and the two-thousands. They were never acclaimed only by a narrow number of supporters or by those specifically passionate about music, but also by listeners we could define as 'occasional' or more superficial. They were liked by everyone, and they could be defined, despite their behavior never being over the top or in some way glamorous, as true pop stars. We are in a completely different historical phase today, a lot of things have changed, and he comes from a different background from that of the Radiohead, he has a different history behind him, but can we say that the same thing is happening now to James Blake? Why do I make a comparison between these two artists? I know that many of their fans, and particularly Radiohead fans, might frown upon this comparison. However, what I feel is that both have a similar approach and attitude, a sensitivity regarding the music and the content and lyrics of their songs.

James Blake is not the new Thom Yorke. I don't mean this, but I think that for the new generations he may mean or could mean perhaps what Thom Yorke and the Radiohead have meant for the previous generation. This may be somehow 'difficult' to accept; many from the previous generation will surely have a considerably lower regard of this James Blake compared to Thom Yorke and the Radiohead, but that's not the point. Besides, years go by and things change, and this album, you can very well not consider it a masterpiece, I myself don't consider it as such but simply a good 'collection' of electronic pop songs with a soul, but I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes one of the most significant albums released in these years.