What a nice surprise.
British electro musician James Blake did the soundest of sound things and released his third album The Colour in Anything as a surprise last night.
Just after working on Beyoncé’s Lemonade, the Retrograde singer announced on Annie Mac’s BBC 1 radio show that the successor to 2013’s Overgrown would be released at midnight.
Kanye West and Rick Rubin were rumoured to appear on the album, and chart-topper Frank Ocean is credited as a co-writer on the album.
The Colour in Anything boasts a collaboration, I Need A Forest Fire with none other than Justin Vernon of Canadian indie band Bon Iver and it’s simply beautiful.
Blake released the tracklist on his Instagram yesterday evening to anticipate the album dropping:
The album artwork was designed by illustrator Quentin Blake, who worked on the books of Roald Dahl, giving the album a dreamy, ethereal vibe.
Fans on Twitter reacted positively to the news:
“The Colour In Anything” – most inspiring thing I’ve heard in a long time. Never fail to impress. Everyone listen!!
STUNNING @jamesblake !!
— Kirstin Maldonado (@kirstin_taylor) May 6, 2016
did james blake really need 2 drop a song featuring a canadian singer called “i need a forest fire” TONIGHT of all nights….
— Ian (@faglington) May 5, 2016
So proud of my brother James Blake dropping the bigness tonight
— blobtower (@blobtower) May 5, 2016