James Blake live review
Stylistic slipperiness has become something of a calling card for James Blake. Having dabbled in funk-flecked UK bass on early EPs, dipped his toe into singer-songwriter waters for his debut album and then blended the two expertly for his latest (and best) record, half the joy of watching him perform is finding out what’s next. And by tonight’s showing, that’s dancehall and ragga, albeit a skewed, melancholic interpretation that would perhaps feel more at home in Kingston Surrey than Kingston Jamaica. Accordingly, hard-clapping syncopated snares add a deeply satisfying reggaeton grit to crowd favourites CMYK and Limit To Your Love – the latter blossoming from bedroom lullaby to club banger in the process – while new track Digital Lion makes the most of its distant, lonesome air horns to coat Heaven in a forlornly warm dub fug.
But while Blake pulls off the genre experiments with his now-trademark bowel-shaking sub-bass and self-sampling wizardry, he saves his most astonishing trick for the encore. Voyeur begins as an almost conventional love song and mutates via thumping kick drums, cowbells and acid keyboard licks into a rich, throbbing techno monster. Its climax is utterly unexpected, impressive and seductive, and when this almost peacocking demonstration of talent is succeeded by the now-familiar closing cover of Joni Mitchell’s Case of You, all sparse and tugging in contrast, it’s hard not to admire Blake’s musical restlessness, especially when done with such elegance.
