GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter, James Blake, has released their debut Spotify Singles recordings. For the A side, Blake has reinvented the lead single from his upcoming album, Friends That Break Your Heart, “Say What You Will.” Side B is an impressive and patient acoustic version of Bill Withers’s “Hope She’ll Be Happier.” Are the two available in streaming here.
Recorded at Third Encore Studios in Burbank, CA, the Spotify Singles version of “Say what you want” is an instrumental reworking of the original with delicate percussion, strings and basses that power the song, along with Blake’s astonishing vocal range. Blake’s rendition of “Hope She’ll Be Happier” pays homage to the Bill Withers original, capturing Withers’s vulnerable feeling of anguish with the addition of acoustic guitar, haunting vocals, and cleverly inserted samples.
Says James: “I chose to do the cover of Bill Withers because his live version is one of my favorite recordings of all time and it stuck with me for years and years until I finally decided to give it a try. Obviously that’s kind of overwhelming because he’s Bill Withers, but I wish we would do him justice. I like the change in timbre for me, I like to sing on a guitar, and I like to include some new chords and some sampling elements to give it a slightly different touch.
Regarding the lead single from his new album, Blake says: “With ‘Say What You Will’ it was just a matter of trying to incorporate enough elements into the song, so it felt full even though there are only three of us. playing and there’s like seven parts to the song. I don’t think we have enough hands, but we did our best.
Earlier this month, Blake announced a tour of the UK and Europe in support of her upcoming new album Friends That Break Your Heart.
The tour will include a series of dates in Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield, as well as a concert at Alexandra Palace in London. Tickets will go on sale at 9 am next Friday (September 24).
Listen to James Blake’s Spotify Singles session.
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