Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
James Blake's discography has experienced a gradual thaw. While still mired in heartbreak and discontentment, the production on 2016's The Colour in Anything brightened up just a touch from the stark atmospheres of Blake's groundbreaking earlier records. His fourth album, Assume Form, felt a few degrees warmer as well, with several songs that offset his signature melancholy with feelings of springy joy and the giddy excitement of new love. Fifth album Friends That Break Your Heart continues the emotional climate change that the producer/songwriter has been experimenting with, landing largely as a friendly pop record, even while holding on to traces of the pain and loneliness that are inextricable from Blake's music. A string of straightforward and uncomplex songs open the album. The spare "Famous Last Words" flows affably through subtle synth lines and increasingly layered vocals, opening up into a sweet swell of strings and romantic harmonies just before winding down. "Life Is Not the Same" brings back the skeletal piano chords, clicky drum programming, and unexpected production turns of Blake's early work, but anchors the song's more free-floating qualities with a soaring chorus. It commits to dynamism in a way that's almost anthemic by James Blake standards, wallowing in heartbreak but still delivering a hooky chorus. The melodic harpsichord samples and swimmy synth arpeggios of "Coming Back" are so complimentary of guest collaborator SZA's vocals, it's almost too soon when her verse ends and Blake's wispy falsetto returns. The album moves through a few different modes as it goes on, including the chipper post-breakup shrugging of "Foot Forward," the catchy and hypnotic sample-bending of "I'm So Blessed You're Mine," and "Frozen," a continuation of Blake's collaboration with high-profile rappers that finds SwaVay and JID executing sharp verses over an eerie, creeping instrumental. Even though Friends That Break Your Heart travels a winding path from experimental rap tracks to the tender balladry that makes up the majority of its final quarter, it's still one of the more accessible, and occasionally predictable, collections of material from Blake. Sounding like it was created from the other side of the crushing sadness that defined his earliest work, the album continues Blake's incremental shift to lighter material and songs that lean more into acceptance than torment.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, String Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Drum Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Additional Producer, Programming, AssociatedPerformer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Denzel Michael-Akil Baptiste, ComposerLyricist - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Take A Daytrip, Producer, Mixer, Programming, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - David Charles Marshall Biral, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Hal Ritson, Guitar, Piano, Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Tom Elmhirst, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Richard Adlam, Programming, AssociatedPerformer - James Blake, Producer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Dominic Maker, Vocals, Programming, AssociatedPerformer - SZA, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Brittany Hazzard, ComposerLyricist - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Brad Bustamante, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Matt Scatchell, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Co-Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Andre Jones, ComposerLyricist - James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Destin Route, ComposerLyricist - Swavay, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - JID, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Keyboards, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Drum Programming, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Dominic Maker, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Khushi, Producer, Co-Producer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Josh Stadlen, Producer, Additional Producer - Carl Bespolka, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Additional Producer, ComposerLyricist - Kalim Graham Patel, ComposerLyricist - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Ali Tamposi, ComposerLyricist - Barry Mann, ComposerLyricist - Dan Hill, ComposerLyricist - James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Frank Dukes, Producer - Leland Wayne, ComposerLyricist - Metro Boomin, Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tristan Hoogland, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Additional Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Tom Elmhirst, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake, Producer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Monica Martin, Vocals, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Matt Scatchell, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Co-Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Josh Stadlen, Producer, Additional Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Co-Producer, ComposerLyricist - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Ali Tamposi, ComposerLyricist - James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Carl Bespolka, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Dom Maker, Producer, Additional Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Rick Nowels, Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Mellotron, Rhodes , AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Dean Reid, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake, Producer, Vocals, Synth Bass, Synthesizer, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - John Christopher Fee, Engineer, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Nico Muhly, String Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - Nathan Schram, Viola, AssociatedPerformer - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Jameela Jamil, Producer, Additional Producer - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
James Blake, Producer, Mixer, Vocals, Recording Engineer, Programming, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Khushi, Producer, Additional Producer - Randy Merrill, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - James Blake Litherland, ComposerLyricist - slowthai, MainArtist - Tyron Frampton, ComposerLyricist - Tyler Arnold, A&R - Bryan Montesano, A&R Coordinator
℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Album review
James Blake's discography has experienced a gradual thaw. While still mired in heartbreak and discontentment, the production on 2016's The Colour in Anything brightened up just a touch from the stark atmospheres of Blake's groundbreaking earlier records. His fourth album, Assume Form, felt a few degrees warmer as well, with several songs that offset his signature melancholy with feelings of springy joy and the giddy excitement of new love. Fifth album Friends That Break Your Heart continues the emotional climate change that the producer/songwriter has been experimenting with, landing largely as a friendly pop record, even while holding on to traces of the pain and loneliness that are inextricable from Blake's music. A string of straightforward and uncomplex songs open the album. The spare "Famous Last Words" flows affably through subtle synth lines and increasingly layered vocals, opening up into a sweet swell of strings and romantic harmonies just before winding down. "Life Is Not the Same" brings back the skeletal piano chords, clicky drum programming, and unexpected production turns of Blake's early work, but anchors the song's more free-floating qualities with a soaring chorus. It commits to dynamism in a way that's almost anthemic by James Blake standards, wallowing in heartbreak but still delivering a hooky chorus. The melodic harpsichord samples and swimmy synth arpeggios of "Coming Back" are so complimentary of guest collaborator SZA's vocals, it's almost too soon when her verse ends and Blake's wispy falsetto returns. The album moves through a few different modes as it goes on, including the chipper post-breakup shrugging of "Foot Forward," the catchy and hypnotic sample-bending of "I'm So Blessed You're Mine," and "Frozen," a continuation of Blake's collaboration with high-profile rappers that finds SwaVay and JID executing sharp verses over an eerie, creeping instrumental. Even though Friends That Break Your Heart travels a winding path from experimental rap tracks to the tender balladry that makes up the majority of its final quarter, it's still one of the more accessible, and occasionally predictable, collections of material from Blake. Sounding like it was created from the other side of the crushing sadness that defined his earliest work, the album continues Blake's incremental shift to lighter material and songs that lean more into acceptance than torment.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:46:17
- Main artists: James Blake
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Republic Records - Polydor Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
© 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release) ℗ 2021 UMG Recordings, Inc. (A Republic Records / Polydor Records Release)
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.