EP REVIEW: James Blake – Klavierwerke

I’ll admit I was a bit late in listening to and appreciating how fucking good James Blake is. By the time I started listening to the brilliant CMYK, at the behest of my compadre Lewi, and his inclusion of the title track in one of his podcast mixes, this new EP was fast approaching release. Being in a state of total adoration for CMYK, of course I got incredibly excited for Klavierwerke. And by jove, Blake does not disappoint.

You can expect more of the same ethereal, glitchy “post-dubstep” that we’ve all come to know and love. Blake’s incredibly singular style is present from the off here but as the opening title track suggest with it’s ominous, almost sinister piano part, and haunting vocals, the influence has very much come from a different part of Blake’s psyche. Of course, there are similar aspects and this EP is not totally devoid from his last, but with the classically-trained musician’s inclusion of piano, and the EP’s title being “Piano works” auf Deutsch, Blake is presenting something that radiates a vibe oh-so-different to that of his last EP.

Second track “Tell Her Safe” has a more positive nature, the main vocal sample most clearly including the word ‘love’. And it’s lovingly high-pitched, chiming beat jars so much against the intro and what quickly becomes the subsequent backing of the song that it creates an uneven tension and suspense, making the listener crave for a resolute coming together that Blake does not grant. It almost doesn’t seem to work, yet, how it is juxtaposed makes the song greater, Blake cannot be denied the fact that these two separate elements work so well and placing them as simultaneous entities only seems to exemplify their qualities, even if suppressed by the other.

Following this is “I Only Know (What I Know Now)” a song with a strongly sombre opening, downbeat and maybe even downhearted, a quality that it’s slow and steady beat continues to reflect. The high-pitched vocal samples contrasting against the sounds of what I can only describe as a washing-out and it’s low beats. The effect of this song is almost to frighten, it feels as if there is something approaching, but only for that seemingly familiar high-pitched sample to kick in again. It’s unintelligible but to me it represents some form of safety, making long for it’s regular occurrence. Listen to this song below:
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/5612712?secret_token=s-yy3fs"]

The final song on the EP, “Don’t You Think I Do” has a similarly sinister opening, with the first minute filled with a recurring piano part that just builds up a tension, totally demystified after that incredibly danceable beat kicks in. Out of all the tracks this probably harks back to the CMYK EP most, but still does not feel out of place here. By the time it’s intro is reprised, bringing the song full-circle, you get a sense that Blake treats and works on his EPs very individually, with it not just being a follow-up but in fact it’s own body of work that is considered another facet, another aspect of his work and one that like his previous work will be held in high esteem for a long time.

EP is out today on vinyl and already available digitally.

Nathan