By Ava Fineza

Assume Form is one of, if not my favorite album of this year. James Blake’s voice and lyrics are beautiful, and the songs feature his impressive range of falsetto to bass.  I love how each song gives me a different feeling, Tell Them hyping me up every time, Can’t Believe the Way We Flow making me smile and hum along to the extremely catchy tune, Power On leaving me with hints of hopefulness and inspiration. I could go on for a while. 

Assume Form is wonderfully produced, and I don’t know too much about mixing and sampling and whatnot but it comes together in an eerie, magnetic, amazing way. Assume Form(the song, not the album) is a perfect example of the quality of production in Assume Form(the album, not the song), and the different layers of the snare, violin, piano, vocals, everything makes the song sound ethereal.

Blake also has his fair share of features on this 2019 album. Barefoot in the Park ft. Rosalía mixes the haunting sound of the background vocals with Rosalía’s angelic voice and earns a spot as one of my favorites on the album. Travis Scott, Moses Sumney, Metro Boomin, and Andre 3000 also feature on Assume Form, with their songs being some of the more upbeat pieces on the album. No voice is wasted, and every feature is special and fun in its own way.

Before I close out, I’d like to talk about my first love in this album, Are You in Love?(question mark included, it’s not that I’m unsure about it) (also, pun). I used to only really listen to Are You in Love?, and I still think it’s absolutely wonderful, but that was before I could get a good listen to enjoy everything else. Even so, it needs its own mention because it’s so beautiful. Not sure if anyone does this with music they like but I have spent many hours dreaming up music videos and movie scenes to pair with the song. Sometimes I even cast people at my school to play out my little daydreams….oh to be able to direct a music video….anyways. The vocals, synths, piano, everything comes together in the culminating moment of the album(imo) to take your breath away at the realization that maybe you Are in Love. At least, that’s what I imagine for the poor main character in my dream.

I think there’s more to say, but I’ve droned on for long enough. Why don’t you just give it a listen? Music taste is subjective, I know, but I really enjoy James Blake’s Assume Form and I’m willing to bet that some of you will too. I hope I can get someone attached to this amazing album as I have, and if anything, I hope you enjoyed me blabbering on about music for a little. Thanks!