James Blake: "Friends That Break Your Heart" (Album Review)

            Friends That Break Your Heart is the fifth studio album by multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter James Blake. A postponed release due to COVID-19, saw the album come out on October 8th, 2021. This record is one of Blake’s most vulnerable yet, showcasing the pain caused by a lack of love and insecurities.

The essence of the album is clearly shown throughout the title track, Friends That Break Your Heart. Blake croons, “And as many loves that have crossed my path in the end it was friends… It was friends who broke my heart”. Platonic heartbreak is a topic that is covered in-depth throughout the album, painting a vivid picture of his emotional pains. The lyrical subject matter might be seen by some as repetitive, but I found the approach of this topic was thoughtful and mature. This album is a case study, highlighting Blake’s unfiltered thoughts and feelings. 

From a technical standpoint, Friends That Break Your Heart is one of his least experimental works, sticking closely to more traditional R&B instrumentation. This is by no means a flaw of the album, with stripped-back songs like Funeral, serving as quiet moments of intimacy without overstaying their welcome. Blake’s production remains one of the biggest strengths in his music, with each song sounding unique and dynamic. The energetic yet atmospheric Life Is Not The Same, co-produced by Take a Daytrip, contrast heavily with the ethereal and glittery sound of Lost Angel Nights. This high level of production makes some of the weaker tracks, such as I’m So Blessed You’re Mine and Frozen feel rudimentary. 

Another strength of Blake, which is clearly showcased on this record, is his angelic vocals. Some might call James Blake’s vocal manipulation through artificial means a staple of his music, but there is a clear lack of it here. The result is a really gorgeous sound, and one that is less common for him. These qualities are what make a track like I’m So Blessed You're Mine so disappointing. It starts off strong, but the powerful sound of Blake’s voice is lost through vocal alterations. Basic production and a bland hook only help to further showcase how poor this song is in comparison to others on the same album. An example of one such song is If I’m Insecure, which is also a fantastic vocal showing, with the amount of passion accompanying a dreamy voice one might expect from an artist like Jeff Buckley.

 Due to this, some of the tracks with guest verses feel slightly out of place to me. They’re not necessarily bad songs, but don’t work as well in the context of the album, especially when considering the subject matter. Coming Back is a fairly good song, but the pairing of James Blake and SZA feels disjointed, like there were no contributions that SZA made which could have been done by Blake himself. Frozen is another song that I feel like suffers from this, where it feels like an unnecessary interlude for time away from Blake. Despite these faults, the actual quality of the songs are considerably high, but could have been thematically stronger. Show Me demonstrates the perfect use of a feature, with Monica Martin being a supporting voice to give Blake’s vocals more weight. The result is beautiful harmonization along with presenting the album from a different angle. 

Friends That Break Your Heart is an introspective album that is fueled by raw emotion. James Blake masterfully pairs his enchanting vocals with multi-layered production and heart-trending lyrics. The narrative is straightforward, but thrives in its execution. Although there were a few missteps conceptually and with features, it did not detract much from my overall enjoyment of this album. 

Favorite Tracks: Famous Last Words, If I’m Insecure, Foot Forward, Show Me, Say What You Will, Funeral

Least Favorites: I’m So Blessed You’re Mine

Enjoyment Scale: Low 9

Critical Scale: High 8

Arbitrary Number: 8.7