James Blake announces album ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’ and shares new single

James Blake has announced his new album ‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’ and shared its lead single ‘Big Hammer’.

• READ MORE: James Blake live in London: hometown hero celebrates longevity with a career-spanning set

‘Playing Robots In Heaven’ is set for release on September 8 via Polydor/ Republic. The album will see Blake return to his electronic roots seen within his earlier works, such as 2013’s ‘Overgrown’ and 2010’s ‘Klavierwerke’.

Blake also released its first single ‘Big Hammer’ from the LP. Directed by Oscar Hudson (Radiohead, Bonobo), the accompanying video is shot largely from the perspective of a car that is being driven by a gang of troublemakers dressed in all-white tracksuits.

Blake will also embark on a headline international tour later this year, with dates in the UK, Europe and North America. Kicking off at the Fabrique in Milan on September 18, it will see Blake travel to his home town in London for an Alexandra Palace show on September 28, before wrapping up in Los Angeles on October 19.

Check out the tour dates and the album’s full track listing below.

James Blake 2023 tour dates are:

SEPTEMBER 
18 – Milan, Italy – Fabrique
21 – Brussels, Belgium – Forest National Club
22 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
24 – Berlin, Germany – UFO im Velodrom
26 – Tilburg, Netherlands – 013
28 – London, England, Alexandra Palace

OCTOBER
3 – Atlanta, GA, Coca-Cola Roxy
5 – Queens, New York,  Knockdown Center
9 – Boston, MA, MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10 – Montreal, Quebec, L’Olympia
12 – Toronto, Ontario,  Rebel
14 – Chicago, IL,  Aragon Ballroom
16 – San Francisco, CA, The Masonic Theater
19 – Los Angeles, CA, Hollywood Forever Cemetery

A special ticket pre-sale for the Alexandra Palace show will be available for fans who pre-order the album by 6pm on Monday, July 3 via Blake’s official website. The pre-sale will take place on Tuesday, July 4 and general sale will take place on July 7. Visit here for UK tickets and here for US tickets.

‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’ track list:

‘Asking to Break’
‘Loading’
‘Tell Me’
‘Fall Back’
‘He’s Been Wonderful’
‘Big Hammer’
‘I Want You to Know’
‘Night Sky’
‘Fire the Editor’
‘If You Can Hear Me’
‘Playing Robots Into Heaven’

‘Playing Robots In Heaven’ follows Blake’s 2021 LP ‘Friends That Break Your Heart’. In a five-star review of the album, NME wrote: “‘Friends That Break Your Heart’ stuns in how unexpected it is. Blake could have gone anywhere after his blissed-out 2019 LP ‘Assume Form’, and he did: the ‘Before’ and ‘Covers’ EPs followed last winter, and the former reconnected with Blake’s roots in dance music in a full circle moment that spoke to his strength as a vulnerable lyricist and his skill as a producer. ‘Friends…’ takes both sides further, using the disarming heartbreak of its title as the blueprint for further revelations.”

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