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Of all the things you might expect from a James Blake album – exquisite minimalism, plaintive vocal distortion, appearances from hip-hop’s great and good – chin-stroking socio0political commentary probably isn’t one of them. But as the title suggests, our current predicament is precisely what the 37-year-old aims to address on his seventh solo record. Unfortunately, preachy, banal sentiments (“Everyone’s getting different information / So how can we get on the same side?”) sit awkwardly amid the ethereal melancholia he long ago perfected as the poster boy for London’s 2010s indie-electronica scene.
Subsequently, however, Blake became better known for collaborating with huge US rappers, including Kanye West: the pair recorded a succession of still-unreleased tracks in 2022. Through the High Wire – seemingly a repurposing of one of those songs – scans as a bold defence of his disgraced former colleague. “People love a story,” croons Blake, explaining that “whispers change” until “we all fall from glory”.
Coincidentally, perhaps, you can detect West’s influence on Trying Times, too, with its syrupy old-school soul samples and thrillingly abrupt stylistic shifts. Unconvincing lyrics aside, it’s a consistently excellent album. The hooks are strikingly fresh yet distantly familiar – an addictive combination – and Blake’s tendency towards sickliness is halted by all manner of inventive dissonance: Days Go By repurposes Dizzee Rascal’s sour grime classic I Luv U; grungy guitars smother Make Something Up; a hauntological Dusty Springfield sample morphs into dancefloor euphoria on Rest of Your Life. Trying Times may not have much to say about our age, but the tunes are undoubtedly worth hearing.
