James Blake has delivered his latest album, Friends That Break Your Heart. Stream the UK crooner’s fifth studio full-length below via Apple Music or Spotify.
Described by Blake as a “concept” album, Friends That Break Your Heart features guest appearances by SZA, JID, SwaVay, and Monica Marti. Blake’s girlfriend, The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil, also has songwriting credits on three songs: recent single “Famous Last Words,” the SZA-featuring “Coming Back,” and “I’m So Blessed You’re Mine. Of the LP’s 12 tracks “Say What You Will” and “Life Is Not the Same” were also shared as early previews.
The concept of Friends That Break Your Heart is right in the title: Blakes treats platonic heartbreak the same way writers typically look at romance. As Consequence’s own Mary Siroky notes it in her review of the record,
“While Blake is by no means only known for songs about heartbreak, it’s always interesting to see what happens when historically introspective, sometimes gloomy writers release projects in times of romantic bliss… For Blake, it meant mining other facets of life beyond the romantic, and the cohesiveness of the album is proof of his skill as a writer.”
FTBYH follows Blake’s pair of 2020 EPs: October’s surprise Before and December’s six-track covers EP called, fittingly, Covers. His last full LP was 2019’s Assume Form. Blake is currently out on the road supporting his latest effort, and you can sang tickets to the remaining shows via Ticketmaster.
Friends That Break Your Heart Artwork:
Friends That Break Your Heart Tracklist:
01. Famous Last Words
02. Life Is Not the Same
03. Coming Back (feat. SZA)
04. Funeral
05. Frozen (feat. JID & SwaVay)
06. I’m So Blessed You’re Mine
07. Foot Forward
08. Show Me (feat. Monica Martin)
09. Say What You Will
10. Lost Angel Nights
11. Friends That Break Your Heart
12. If I’m Insecure
