James Blake has a lot of new music on the way. His third studio album is nearing completion and at Bonnaroo last month, he told Billboard he’s been collaborating with Kanye West and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.
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And now we have some new Blake music to actually hear. While stepping in for usual host Benji B on BBC Radio 1 last night, The xx’s Jamie xx debuted a brand new untitled track from Blake. You can listen to it here by skipping to the 29:45 mark.
The new, untitled track sounds much darker than what we’ve heard from Blake’s previous two studio albums. It features chopped-up screams, swirling, dissonant noises and bursts of glitchy synthesizer — not too surprising for someone who’s been spending time with Kanye lately.
Check out Billboard’s talk with Blake at this year’s Bonnaroo below:
Also, an hour and four minutes into the two-hour session, Jamie debuts a new song from Spanish electronic musician John Talabot.
Jamie’s band is working on new music as well. Last month, producer Rodaidh McDonald confirmed in an interview with Dazed that The xx are in the middle of working on their third studio album. “It’s a completely different concept, just trying everything, trying to find new ways of working, new sounds,” McDonald said. The xx’s last album was 2012’s acclaimed “Coexist.”