James Blake grew up in Enfield, London in a highly musical household, and planned to be a professional pianist until he fell in love with electronic dance music whilst studying at Goldsmiths University. One of the highlights of this show, Limit To Your Love from his first album, shows that he didn't leave behind his devotion to the piano with this radical shift in direction. In fact, he's created a brilliant blend of the tender singer songwriter with elements of dubstep, dance and even reggae. Just this week, he revealed his collaboration with Chance The Rapper by posting a remix of Life Round Here, although this didn't influence the show beyond his 1-800 Dinosaur t-shirt.
James is not lacking acclaim from the critical establishment, his 2013 album Overgrown following the first in being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. Yet seeing him for the first time, the question was how such personal, intimate music would translate to a sizeable venue. Performing as a trio with two childhood friends on guitar / keyboard and drums, the sound reverberated around the large space. Visually, an elaborate lighting setup added interest, even if mid set, chatter from the floor threatened to break the spell. Little talk came from the stage: James was slightly awkward in manner, with a very English modesty and shyness despite his 6 foot 5 inch statue. Oddly placed on the far right hand edge, with the drummer in the centre, he never emerged from behind his keyboards, or even stood up, let alone danced. As yet, he isn't a performer with the stage presence of The Weeknd or Ghostpoet.
The recent single Retrograde was the crowd's favourite, inspiring rapture from the predominantly female fans near the stage. Yet, to their likely disappointment, it undoubtedly reflects his relationship with Warpaint's Theresa Wayman; the line 'Suddenly I'm Hit' capturing the moment when he fell in love. The mood varied between the turbulent and the soothing, yet despite the musical energy, the audience didn't contribute much to the atmosphere. Not only is this cerebral music, but it's also rooted in electronica which is notoriously challenging to perform live. It was fascinating to see James doing live recording, overlapping his vocals to create layers, but deconstructing the process of the music's creation undermined some of the magic for me. It's also disconcerting to watch a drummer, guitarist and keyboard player, then hear horns leap out of the PA system: at times the visual and auditory senses contradicted each other.
So at times I was left with a similar impression to Bon Iver: beautiful, brilliant music to which the live experienced added little. It was also felt like a uneven set; at times soaring and at others dangerously close to losing the audience. But what saved the show for me were the more introverted songs like To The Last where James performed soulful live vocals. His trembly tenor voice, obtuse time signatures and use of dramatic pauses were in the end incredibly moving. The lyrics are often poignant, and it's obvious that the emotions came from his heart. This was a cerebral experience, but far from austere: ultimately his talent as a songwriter transcended his considerable skills as a producer, and overcame a lack of charismatic stage craft.
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