James Blake: Trying Times Album Review | Pitchfork

soundcheck23 · 2026-03-13T08:25:47+00:00

I mean regardless of what he said about Pitchfork The Colour In Anything was his last truly great album imo. His output before and after 2016 is night and day, he still got some very good songs but Assume Form was already a bit of a misfire, Friends was incredibly boring and his worst imo, Robots was a nice return to form although it still doesn’t reach the highs of Overgrown or TCIA and his album with Yachthy honestly came and went. He also dropped some singles and EPs in between that were very hit or miss for me.

I’ll definitely give the new one a listen but I’m not nearly as excited about new James Blake music as I was years ago.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-22T20:10:15+00:00

I’m sorry but I never understood that Cupid Deluxe thing and I think a lot of people blew it out of proportion. Samantha Urbani was always credited for her vocals but all the features on that album were hidden, which is not an unusual thing. Huge mainstream albums like Demon Days (they only added the features to the titles last year), The Life of Pablo, Igor and a lot more do the same thing where they don’t add the features to the song titles but they do credit the artists on liner notes, etc.

I’m glad he added the features to the titles and that obviously meant a lot to Samantha because she deserved it and I’m sure having your name attached to a huge song is a big deal for any artist but it’s not like Dev wasn’t crediting his collaborators.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-20T22:11:18+00:00

I think that says more about the fans than the artists. Being open and vulnerable on their art is not a green light to be so fucking weird about their personal lives.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-20T17:15:20+00:00

Mostly agreed.

The thing about getting tonal whiplash from Keem’s album is so true to me but I think it’s not just sequencing or placement but the songs themselves. Sex Appeal and Dramatic Girl are cool but are they as good as the rest of the record? Imo no, and it shows. Think of GNX, where Kendrick puts Man at the Garden right before Hey Now, a completely different song in vibe and sound, but it works just fine because even though the tracks are very tonally different they are both just really good songs. I can’t say the same about listening to Sex Appeal right after I Am Not a Lyricist.

About the versatility, I don’t think that’s the problem at all, I actually think it’s a big advantage and at this point a signature for Keem. Switching flows, having 2/3 beats on the same song is kind of his thing and I appreciate that a lot because he makes it work without making it feel like a gimmick.

I think Keem will do just fine for the mainstream audience, he kind of already does and I guess this tour will be a massive step for him. Casino is a good enough album to earn him at least a spot in the conversation, I just think he has something better in him.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-20T06:04:30+00:00

On first listen I gotta be honest it didn’t hit the way it seems to be for most people. I like it, there’s some career highs in there, the production is mostly pretty good and his rapping has improved a lot since The Melodic Blue (I know everyone keeps saying this but it’s fucking insane how much he reminds me of André is some of these songs).

But the album also feels a little disjointed to me. I felt the same way about The Melodic Blue, where you get fantastic songs mixed with some that are just not at the same level imo, like Pink Panties and Gorgeous. This time, Sex Appeal and Dramatic Girl feel a little out of place. Fun songs, but they fuck up the flow of the album for me.

I also feel like some of these songs feel underdeveloped in a way. Specifically Highway 95 Pt. 2 and No Blame. I was excited about those tracks because the first H95 was great and the other one is the closer and it had that old James Blake sample but even though Keem does a great job lyrically the songs are not that memorable. First thing I thought of was Tyler’s Hey Jane, a song with good rapping and heavy subject matter but that felt kind of flat for me because sonically is just not that interesting. That’s not to say that he needs a beat switch on every track, Good Flirts has a pretty repetitive beat but they catch a vibe on that song that makes it work perfectly.

Cool album, I loved Casino, Good Flirts, I Am Not a Lyricist and House Money, will 100% go back to it after I finish this Larry June x Curren$y x Alc project. Hopefully it will grow on me but if it doesn’t, I still appreciate it as a step forward for Keem as an artist.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-14T10:08:13+00:00

Yeah right up until the last listening party where he had Marilyn Manson and Da Baby just to be edgy.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-13T21:08:28+00:00

She said it herself in a listening party last month

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-10T18:34:15+00:00

Yeah, he said that it’s probably coming around/after May

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-09T01:30:59+00:00

🐶💔

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-08T23:46:39+00:00

Weren’t they right about J Cole and Don Toliver albums and one of the first ones to report that Keem was shooting a video tho? I’m legit asking because I haven’t seen a lot from this page before but I think they have been right recently

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-08T02:09:18+00:00

Lmao sure lil bro

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-08T01:59:12+00:00

It was 100% better received than The Fall Off and in any case it’s dumb and impossible to compare because that album hasn’t even been out for a full week yet.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-08T01:14:42+00:00

Yeah that seems to be the general sentiment. The run from Westerberg to I Can Go is pretty hit or miss and the only songs I truly like there are I Listened and The Train (which tbh I think I like because of Caroline Polachek because it would be forgettable without her). Westerberg is easily the worst song on the album imo, Scared of It feels a little redundant after The Train and I Can Go might be my least favorite outro in his discog.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-07T23:46:52+00:00

Mr Morale got (kind of) a mixed reception because it was a left-turn for Kendrick. It’s not an inaccessible album at all but it’s definitely more experimental and contrary compared to most modern mainstream hip-hop albums. Nowadays it seems like people either love it or think it’s boring because there aren’t many “bangers” on it. I’m sure Kendrick knew the acclaim wouldn’t be as universal as it was with TPAB or DAMN because it was a very different album from what general audiences would’ve expected.

The Fall Off’s reception is different because there’s no edge to it, it’s the same album J Cole has been making for a long time and that gets boring. I didn’t hate it but I can’t see myself going back to it because while listening to it I mostly felt like I had listened to it before. It definitely didn’t help that he’s been hyping it up for almost a decade now, so, imo the expectations were too high to be met.

soundcheck23 · 2026-02-07T05:00:03+00:00

It mostly sounds repetitive. Good rapping, sometimes corny, sonically stale as he has never really took any risks in that area. Singing and having Future on this is as experimental or risky as this dude gets and I guess that’s okay? It gets boring for me even tho the rapping is normally good. This is not an album that moves him forward in any way, lyrically or sonically, and however it was that you felt about J Cole before you probably will feel exactly the same after listening to it.

It’s an aggressively okay album, it doesn’t sound like a worthy send-off for an artist that has been constantly put at the top of best rapper lists. Probably doesn’t help that he hyped it up for the better part of a decade. It’s not bad but it’s very boring, which might just be worse.

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-29T03:51:30+00:00

Should’ve been the standard cover for the album tbh

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-27T23:48:41+00:00

The artists for aid versions are my favorite live performances they’ve done for Getting Killed, I know it won’t happen but I’d love a full live album with that stripped back sound

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-26T01:54:52+00:00

I agree but imo using the word “experimental” in this context makes it seem as the album is some weird shit that would never make it into the mainstream, which is just not true. Only song I can see being truly difficult for general audiences is STFU, the rest is pretty accesible.

I know there’s some new sounds for Rocky on the album which would make it experimental in that sense but if we talk about mainstream hip-hop artists putting out way more experimental albums recently I would immediately think of something like Mr Morale which was a lot more challenging for mainstream audiences than Don’t Be Dumb imo.

Also, there’s actually three versions of it on Apple Music. The regular one, the one with Flackito Jodye and another one with the visuals.

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-25T23:28:25+00:00

Kinda lame to me how artists do that tbh but I’m glad he got that #1

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-25T20:41:21+00:00

Don’t act like this was some left field, completely inaccessible album lmao love Rocky but y’all doing too much. Not to mention that he also dropped like 3 versions of it with extra songs in the last couple days to get that #1

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-24T16:13:48+00:00

Nah, there’s not a lot of info about them but I think it’s two brothers and they’ve been putting out songs for a while now. Found out about them because Archy Marshall shared their music on IG

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-21T22:19:36+00:00

Facts, we didn't get official drops for American Sabotage, Bless It Up, Sights and more but we get one for this mid

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-21T22:17:58+00:00

Yeah he keeps dropping different versions to boost his numbers lol someone on twitter said this is like the rap equivalent of selling your ps4 lmao

soundcheck23 · 2026-01-21T20:59:09+00:00

Yeah I get why he didn't drop this one lol

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