Going into his sophomore album, the multi-faceted artist James Blake had the entire world before him. After years of success in the electronic music scene and a stellar debut album that saw Blake sliding into a more electro-soul sound and featured the debut of his bluntly emotional approach to songwriting, Blake was doing nothing but looking ahead. He was being touted as the poster child for a new era of music as the praise poured in from his 2011 self-titled LP. Blake made a powerful statement while simultaneously forming the blueprint for his future releases, although we have seen that same blueprint be reworked countless times as Blake’s career continues to expose new sides of his artistry. As Blake’s name continues to be nuzzled in with fellow modern trailblazers, the follow-up album lingered in the air with a thick tension.
Ten years ago (4/5/2013), Blake released Overgrown, his mesmerizing sophomore album that had the artist diving deeper into his newfound voice. The album not only cemented Blake as a borderless genre-bender but redefined the landscape of electronic music, relying on simplicity and warping tones to portray the artist’s gentle approach to poetry. The album finds Blake ignoring the blaring sirens of fame and retreating to the foggy atmosphere of his music, finding shelter in the midst of plush synths and hazy drums. Even in the middle of his dreams being realized, Blake finds himself centered and focused on Overgrown as the 11 songs on the album individually peel back another layer of the artist and his distinct approach to honesty.
Some songwriters find solace in vagueness, they achieve a certain level of honesty by adding artistic descriptors to their emotions. They build a solid foundation for the listener to craft their interpretation of what the artist is saying, forcing their lyrics to lean on literary devices to get their meaning across. Blake found a home on the opposite side of this spectrum, writing songs that express themselves on a surface level while still finding the beauty in a pain that is all to their own. This style of songwriting allows Blake to keep things simple, there is no need for catastrophic dramatizations when all of your feelings are displayed right in front of you, fully prepped to be arranged and presented as they are. Blake deconstructs the seven stages of grief into one phrase, one idea that sums up the full spectrum of human emotion. This becomes the central idea of his music, he hyper-focuses on this simplistic idea and uses its nuances to craft a sonic palate that encapsulates the many layers of James Blake. This approach to songwriting allows him to reach the level of vulnerability that shapes the narrative of Overgrown. Blake’s lyrics hang in the air like haphazardly hung Christmas lights, brightening up a room with wonder and their nonchalant, hard-to-ignore presence. These lofty tales of longing seem to act as a catalyst to Blake’s production, camouflaging their unguarded nature with the other-worldly production that the artist has found comfort in.
Overgrown stands as an example of a fearless creative trusting his intuition to form a unique sonic identity. Sparse, electro-soul fusions make up the sonic identity of the album, Blake settles into this gray area between the advancement of music and his passion for simplifying his work. He fully surrenders himself to modern technology while still reaching out to the heyday of genres like soul and hip-hop for their abilities to make the minimal sound full. His sophomore LP had Blake diving headfirst into these influences as the pitter-patter of his drums create a rough edge for the luxurious synths that provide a haunting beauty to the whole piece. The entirety of Overgrown was produced solely by Blake, except for the great Brian Eno helping out with writing on the up-tempo “Digital Lion”. This work ethic finds our hero again with the world in his hands and the weight of it on his shoulders, with no one but himself to discover where the album was heading musically, Blake was forced to put himself in the center of it all despite the music sounding hesitant to do so.
Blake was still coming into his own during the making of Overgrown, he was a young musician whose debut album put him on a pedestal with countless eyes watching his every musical move. The pressures of a sophomore album are indescribable and can create a blockage between the artist and the work, Blake used these stressors as a means to push himself forward instead of letting them weigh the album down. The 11 songs featured on Overgrown are strung together by this juxtaposing ambitious caution, the songs feel shy while still standing strong in their peculiar ambiance. Overgrown is quite yet proud, Blake overthinks every note sung while still allowing his ideas to travel to these unconventional depths. This contradiction is what makes the album so relatable even 10 years after its release, it captures an artist allowing his search for self to take on a life of its own in an attempt to create the best music possible.
To this day, Overgrown stands as the most important release of James Blake’s career. While he has far surpassed the skills displayed on the album in the decade after its initial release, his sophomore album still holds its own against masterpieces like 2016’s The Colour in Anything. This tracklist acts more like a photo, a snapshot of a musician who can keep his head above the noise to soundtrack his own life with repetitive loops and hushed melodies that detail the idea of love and all its flaws. Overgrown is as refreshing as it was in 2013, as the years go by and Blake exposes more of himself to the world, these songs grow right alongside the man who made them, giving more depth and personality to the album with every passing moment.
