James Blake

Fri 15th Jul, 2011 in Features

2011 has been a triumphant year for James Blake. After a string of EPs on Hessle Audio, Hemlock and R&S Records, the producer’s watershed moment came in February with the release of his debut album. Here were 11 tracks that demanded no prior interest in murky London dancefloors or knowledge of names like Untold, Ben UFO and Pangae. What pricked fresh ears was Blake’s voice, whether warm and unadorned on Limit To Your Love or bent out of shape with electronics on I Mind.

Restraint seems to come naturally to Blake: the album never over-reaches. How, then, does he know when a vocal performance is just right? “The problem is: I don’t,” he says after a pause. “I’m my own editor, and that’s sometimes quite difficult. You don’t have a perspective on your music for the first few days you’re making it. So there’s a very dangerous period where you could really fuck things up, because you don’t know whether things are too much or too little, or whether they’re not emotionally honest enough or too much out on a limb that they sound embarrassing. I don’t know. I never know, really.” He delivers the last words with a kind of comfortable resignation.

Less-is-more seems to be Blake’s interview technique, too. Some questions he’s clearly answered too many times, and he gives them short shrift. Attempts to get inside the workings of his live show – how he coaxed intimate songs into festival-readiness – only get so far. “The live show retains the sound of the album but I think it takes it up a notch,” he offers carefully. “We’ve been breathing new life into it in some ways. Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it.”

The enjoyment has been shared. Since taking the stage for the first time with his bandmates in London last year, Blake has toured the live show steadily but selectively. The three-piece did headline dates around the UK in June, and have now entered a phase of “all festivals”. A Saturday night slot on the Park Stage at Glastonbury shines brightest for Blake. “It was a…well…a really epic moment. Someone let off a flare when we were playing The Wilhelm Scream and it was just like, an incredible moment.” In videos from the set, every “thank you so much” from Blake feels entirely genuine, and a little overwhelmed.