Friends That Break Your Heart
Studio album by
James Blake
Released8 October 2021 (2021-10-08)
Studio
  • The Green Building (Los Angeles, California)
  • No Idle Campus (Los Angeles, California)
Length43:42
Label
Producer
James Blake chronology
Covers
(2020)		 Friends That Break Your Heart
(2021)		 Wind Down
(2022)
Singles from Friends That Break Your Heart
  1. "Say What You Will"
    Released: 22 July 2021
  2. "Life Is Not the Same"
    Released: 20 August 2021
  3. "Famous Last Words"
    Released: 13 September 2021

Friends That Break Your Heart is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter and producer James Blake. It was released by Republic Records and Polydor Records on 8 October 2021, after initially being scheduled for release on 10 September 2021 before being postponed due to delays in physical production as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promotion and release

James Blake announced Friends That Break Your Heart on 22 July 2021, and it is scheduled for release on 10 September 2021.[1][2] "Say What You Will" was released as the album's lead single on the same day.[3] "Life Is Not the Same" was released as the second single on 20 August 2021.[4] On 3 September 2021, Blake announced the album was postponed due to delays in physical production as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and would be released on 8 October 2021.[5] "Famous Last Words" was released as the third single on 13 September 2021.[6] The album is finally released on 8 October 2021.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[8]
Metacritic79/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Clash8/10[11]
DIY[12]
Exclaim!7/10[13]
Financial Times[14]
The Independent[15]
NME[16]
The Observer[17]
Pitchfork6.6/10[18]
Uncut7/10[19]

Friends That Break Your Heart was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 79, based on 15 reviews.[9] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[8]

Ella Kemp of NME praised the album, stating, "Familiar emotionally yet revelatory in its execution, the album sees Blake sing about mundane, almost incidental upsets that sting harder than they should. Piercing lyrics are matched by innovative, fearless production".[16] Ben Tipple of DIY said, "His shifts in sound are as delicate as his music, continuing to showcase his ability to blur styles with unparalleled precision".[12] Helen Brown from The Independent enjoyed the album, saying, "Few artists can make such heartbreak sound so pretty, while still reflecting on all its weirdness and complexity".[15] The Observer's Kitty Empire wrote, "Many affecting tracks detail the sharknado of outrage and bewilderment in Blake's trademark delicate soprano, offset occasionally by well-chosen collaborators (SZA, or rappers JID and SwaVay) or startlingly pitch-shifted vocals".[17] Nathan Evans of Clash gave a positive review, stating, "The LP's home stretch is up there with Blake's best, not just in the tense penultimate title track and wet-cheeked closer "If I'm Insecure", but on the lead single. "Say What You Will" shows off the magic trick Blake's perfected by now. Vocally, he's unsettlingly beautiful".[11]

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Fred Thomas stated, "Even though Friends That Break Your Heart travels a winding path from experimental rap tracks to the tender balladry that makes up the majority of its final quarter, it's still one of the more accessible, and occasionally predictable, collections of material from Blake".[10] Peter Boulos of Exclaim! said, "It does occasionally err too heavily towards swaying ballad tropes, but importantly Blake never hides his feelings through allegory or metaphor, nor does he mangle his vocal delivery with electronic trickery".[13] Pitchfork critic Shaad D'Souza said, "Even if the music remains more ambitious than that aspiration, perhaps the most groundbreaking thing about Friends That Break Your Heart is that James Blake has never sounded so safe".[18] Writing for Uncut, John Lewis stated, "Blake's fragmented post-dubstep has always had an air of bleak melancholy, but nothing he's done has been quite as self-consciously miserable as this".[19]

Year-end lists

Select year-end rankings of Friends That Break Your Heart
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Clash Clash Albums of the Year 2021
60
Complex The Best Albums of 2021
33
Complex UK Complex UK's Best Albums of 2021
11
The Independent The 40 Best Albums of 2021
29
The Line of Best Fit The Best Albums of 2021 Ranked
28

Track listing

Friends That Break Your Heart track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Famous Last Words"James Litherland
4:16
2."Life Is Not the Same"
3:19
3."Coming Back" (featuring SZA)
  • James Blake
  • Maker
  • Jamil[b]
  • Khushi[b]
3:15
4."Funeral"Litherland
  • James Blake
  • Khushi[b]
2:35
5."Frozen" (featuring JID and SwaVay)
  • James Blake
  • Jamil[b]
3:56
6."I'm So Blessed You're Mine"
  • Litherland
  • Maker
  • Jamil
  • Patel
  • James Blake
  • Khushi
  • Maker[b]
  • Jamil[b]
  • Josh Stadlen[b]
3:15
7."Foot Forward"
2:33
8."Show Me" (featuring Monica Martin)
  • Litherland
  • Maker
  • Monica Martin
  • James Blake
  • Maker
  • Jamil[b]
  • Khushi[b]
3:38
9."Say What You Will"
  • Litherland
  • Maker
  • Stadlen
4:40
10."Lost Angel Nights"
  • Litherland
  • Maker
  • Tamposi
3:59
11."Friends That Break Your Heart"
  • James Blake
  • Nowels
3:21
12."If I'm Insecure"
  • James Blake
  • Jamil[b]
4:55
Total length:43:42

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer
  • ^[b] signifies an additional producer
  • "Life Is Not the Same" features background vocals by Joji
  • "Coming Back" features additional vocals by Dominic Maker

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from official liner notes.[25]

Musicians

  • Jameela Jamil – additional arrangement (tracks 1, 3), structure (tracks 5, 7)
  • Joji – background vocals (track 2)
  • Dominic Maker – additional vocals (tracks 3, 6, 7)
  • Khushi – additional arrangement (tracks 3, 6), additional vocals (track 6)
  • Hal Ritson – additional piano (track 3), guitar (track 3), bass (track 3)
  • Richard Adlam – additional programming (track 3)
  • Rob Bisel – engineering (SZA; track 3)
  • Tom Elmhirst – programming (track 3)
  • James Blake – vocals (track 6, 11), keyboard (track 6), programming (track 6), drum programming (track 6), Wurlitzer (track 11), synthesizer (track 11), synth bass (track 11)
  • Rick Nowels – Rhodes (track 11), Mellotron (track 11), acoustic guitars (track 11)
  • John Christopher Fee – keyboards (track 11)
  • Nico Muhly – string arrangement (track 12)
  • Nathan Schram – viola (track 12)

Technical

  • James Blake – recording, mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4-7, 9, 10, 12)
  • Take a Daytrip – mixing (track 2)
  • Brad Bustamante – recording (track 3)
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing (tracks 3, 8); programming (track 8)
  • Carl Bespolka – recording (track 6, 10)
  • Khushi – recording (track 6)
  • Tristan Hoogland – recording (track 7)
  • Matt Scatchell – engineering for mix (track 8)
  • John Christopher Fee – engineering (track 11)
  • Dean Reid – mixing (track 11)
  • Randy Merrill – mastering

Design

  • Miles Johnston – artwork
  • Bradley Pinkerton – graphic design
  • Matt Burnette-Lemon – package production

Charts

Chart performance for Friends That Break Your Heart
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 61
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 33
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 66
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[31] 15
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 29
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 19
Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 80
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[35] 90
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[36] 39
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[37] 32
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 23
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[39] 10
Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] 4
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[41] 54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 14
UK Albums (OCC)[43] 4
US Billboard 200[44] 75
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[45] 7

Release history

Release history and formats for Friends That Break Your Heart
Region Date Label(s) Format(s) Ref.
Various 8 October 2021 [46][47][48][49]

References

  1. ↑ Minsker, Evan (22 July 2021). "James Blake Announces New Album and 2021 Tour, Shares Video for New Song". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (22 July 2021). "James Blake Announces New Album 'Friends That Break Your Heart'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Aswad, Jem (22 July 2021). "James Blake Drops New Song, 'Say What You Will'; Album and Tour in September". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Zemler, Emily (20 August 2021). "Hear James Blake's Atmospheric New Song 'Life Is Not the Same'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Hussey, Allison (3 September 2021). "James Blake Delays Release of Friends That Break Your Heart". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Krol, Charlotte (13 September 2021). "James Blake shares pulsating new song 'Famous Last Words'". NME. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  7. ↑ Kaye, Ben (8 October 2021). "James Blake Releases New Album Friends That Break Your Heart: Stream". Consequence. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Friends That Break Your Heart by James Blake reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Friends That Break Your Heart by James Blake Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  10. 1 2 Thomas, Fred. "Friends That Break Your Heart - James Blake". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  11. 1 2 Evans, Nathan (8 October 2021). "James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart". Clash. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  12. 1 2 Tipple, Ben (6 October 2021). "James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart". DIY. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  13. 1 2 Boulos, Peter (7 October 2021). "James Blake Lays Himself Bare on 'Friends That Break Your Heart'". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (8 October 2021). "James Blake: Friends That Break Your Heart — vibrant and deftly arranged". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  15. 1 2 Brown, Helen (7 October 2021). "James Blake review, Friends That Break Your Heart: Newfound clarity pays off". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  16. 1 2 Kemp, Ella (8 October 2021). "James Blake – 'Friends That Break Your Heart' review: fearless revelations and expansive sounds". NME. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  17. 1 2 Empire, Kitty (10 October 2021). "James Blake: Friends That Break Your Heart review – a breakup album with a difference". The Observer. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  18. 1 2 D'Souza, Shaad (8 October 2021). "James Blake: Friends That Break Your Heart Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  19. 1 2 Lewis, John (November 2021). "James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart: Award-winning electronica guru gets seriously heartbroken". Uncut. No. 294. p. 25.
  20. ↑ Evans, Nathan (16 December 2021). "Clash Albums of the Year 2021". Clash. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  21. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2021". Complex. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  22. ↑ Abiade, Yemi (21 December 2021). "Complex UK's Best Albums of 2021". Complex UK. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  23. ↑ Brown, Helen (18 December 2021). "The 40 best albums of 2021, from Adele's 30 to Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  24. ↑ Milross, Harley (13 December 2021). "The Best Albums of 2021 Ranked". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  25. ↑ Friends That Break Your Heart (CD liner notes). James Blake. Republic and Polydor. 2021. B0034381-02.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 18 October 2021". The ARIA Report. No. 1650. Australian Recording Industry Association. 18 October 2021. p. 6.
  27. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  30. ↑ "James Blake Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  31. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  32. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  33. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  34. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography James Blake". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  35. ↑ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2021/10/13 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  36. ↑ "2021 41-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 15 October 2021. Archived from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  37. ↑ "Charts.nz – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  38. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  39. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  40. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  41. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  42. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  43. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  44. ↑ "James Blake Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  45. ↑ "James Blake Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  46. ↑ "Friends That Break Your Heart CD". James Blake Official Store. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  47. ↑ "Friends That Break Your Heart Cassette". James Blake Official Store. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  48. ↑ "Friends That Break Your Heart LP". James Blake Official Store. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  49. ↑ "Friends That Break Your Heart by James Blake". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
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