James Blake has shared his brand-new blissed-out single ‘Thrown Around’ which he has called a nod to the music he grew up listening to in England.
- READ MORE: James Blake – ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’ review: super-producer goes back to his club roots
The energetic electronic track features Blake repeating ‘Thrown Around’ during the chorus as the beat – which includes a lively piano riff – builds. The song marks the musician’s first release as an independent artist.
Speaking about the song in a statement, Blake shared: “‘Thrown Around’ is a nod to some of the music I grew up listening to, growing up in England. It started as an ambient piece that I made with Dom Maker, that connected something very deep in me to the influence of British electronic bands.”
He continued: “It’s a defiant song that’s wrestling with where our job takes us, what it does to our life. It deals with the draw backs of spending so much time dedicated to work. We don’t have any drives towards community – we are all driven towards success. Then we feel lonely and Thrown Around. This song brings people together – it is the connection through defiance.”
The single follows his 2023 LP ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven‘. In a four-star review of the album, NME shared: “Nodding to his earliest CMYK releases, the production quality on ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’ is consistently inventive and hard-hitting – even in its quieter moments.”
Back in April, Blake revealed that he is now a fully independent artist. He took to his official Instagram account and shared a video saying “it feels good to be independent because I’ve wanted to take things into my own hands for a long time” and said he was looking forward to working more “directly” with his fans.
His announcement as an independent artist came after he went viral recently for a series of posts, criticising the lack of royalties artists can make by streaming their music or sharing it on TikTok. Following the posts online, Blake began teasing that he had found a “solution” to the issue.
In other news, Blake is set to perform at a handful of music festivals this summer including Glastonbury. Visit here for a full list of live dates and tickets.
The post Listen to James Blake’s blissed-out new single ‘Thrown Around’ appeared first on NME.
