Friday Flash(back) - James Blake - Trying Times

In the second last Friday Flash(back) before the Easter/mid-year break, lets re-meet James Blake Litherland.

In 2024, Blake left Polydor Records and formed his own production house and record label, as part of his brand CMYK Group.

In May 2024, he released his first single as an independent artist, Thrown Around. The following month, Blake released the EP CMYK 002 and Bad Cameo, a collaborative album with Lil Yachty.

Blake contributed Séance, a track created with Ludwig Göransson, to the Sinners (2025) film soundtrack after Göransson (the film's composer) approached him and offered to collaborate.

In January, Blake released the song Death of Love as the first single from his seventh studio album Trying Times, which was released last Friday, through independent label Good Boy Records.

James Blake is known for his emotive, soulful light head voice and use of falsetto, he first gained recognition following the release of three extended plays—The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke—in 2010. He signed with A&M Records to release his self-titled debut album (2011) the following year, which was met with critical praise and peaked within the top ten of the UK Albums Chart.

Blake departed A&M in favour of sister label Republic Records, on which he released his second album, Overgrown (2013) to further critical and commercial success; it likewise peaked within the chart's top ten and moderately entered the US Billboard 200.

His third album, The Colour in Anything (2016), was followed by his 2018 single King's Dead (with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Future), which peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success foresaw the release of his fourth album, Assume Form (2019), which became his highest-charting entry on both the UK Albums Chart and Billboard 200. 

His fifth, sixth, and seventh studio albums, Friends That Break Your Heart (2021), Playing Robots Into Heaven (2023), Trying Times (2026), followed thereafter. 

Blake has written and produced work for other artists, Often doing so with his partner Jameela Jamil and others including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Rosalía, Strick, JID, Travis Scott, Normani, Oneohtrix Point Never, Dominic Maker, and Justin Vernon.

He has won a Mercury Prize from two nominations, two Grammy Awards from nine nominations, a Latin Grammy Award, and three Brit Award nominations.

So ahead of Easter, let's chill, to some incredible music from James Blake. The season finale will land this time next week.

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - JACK HARLOW - {Monica}

Friday Flash(back) - Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

Atlanta is the third & final album by the American music duo Gnarls Barkley, released last Friday.

Back inn 2008, Gnarls Barkley released their second studio album The Odd Couple, which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200.

The duo went on hiatus for 18 years, until February 26, 2026, when they announced a third record.

The same day as the announcement, the duo released one of the songs as a single, the song being Pictures.

Gnarls Barkley of course is the soul duo composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green & producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, St. Elsewhere, in 2006. It contained their hit single Crazy, which peaked at number two on the US Hot 100 and topped the UK Singles Chart. It was nominated at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, and was platinum certified for shipping over 1,000,000 records.

St. Elsewhere also received a nomination for Album of the Year. Their second studio album, The Odd Couple, was scheduled for release in April 2008, but due to a leak of the album over the internet, they decided to release it early. The album in its entirety received similarly positive reviews.

So let's celebrate the end of this dynamic duo. There will be a few more Friday Flash(back)'s until the end of season one. Stay safe this second Friday the 13th in a row.

Until next week!

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - PACIFIC AVENUE - {Lovesick Sentimental}

Friday Flash(back) - Gorillaz - The Mountain

Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett back in 1998. 

The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards, melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, backup vocals) and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in media such as music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz's music has featured collaborations with a wide range of musicians and featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.

With Gorillaz, Albarn departed from the distinct Britpop sound of his band Blur, exploring a variety of musical styles including hip hop, electronic and world music.

The band's 2001 debut album, Gorillaz, which features trip hop, dub and Latin influences, went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, with sales driven by the success of the lead single, Clint Eastwood. 

Their second studio album, Demon Days (2005), went six times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the US, and spawned the successful lead single Feel Good Inc., along with other hit singles such as Dare, Dirty Harry & El Mañana.

The band's third album, Plastic Beach (2010), featured environmentalist themes, synth-pop elements & an expanded roster of featured artists. Their fourth album, The Fall, was recorded on the road (mainly on Damon Albarn's iPad) during the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour and released on 25 December 2010.

In 2015, after over 10 years providing the voice of Russel, Remi Kabaka Jr became a permanent music producer for the band.

Their fifth album, Humanz (2017) was the band's first in seven years and featured a wide array of guest artists, while its follow-up, The Now Now (2018), focused musically on Albarn. 

In 2020 Gorillaz started the Song Machine project, a music-based web series with episodes that consisted of standalone singles and accompanying music videos featuring different guests, which culminated with their seventh studio album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (2020). The band's eighth studio album, Cracker Island (2023), met generally positive reviews as a refinement of their usual style.

Gorillaz has presented itself live in a variety of different ways throughout its history, such as hiding the touring band from the audience's view in the early years of the project, projecting animated band members on stage via computer graphics and, since 2010, traditional live touring featuring a fully visible live band.

They have won a Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award and four MTV Europe Music Awards. They have also been nominated for 11 Brit Awards and won Best British Group at the 2018 Brit Awards.

The Mountain (title written in Devanagari as पर्वत, parvat[a], 'mountain' in several Indian languages) is their ninth studio album.

This is the first Gorillaz title to be released without the participation of Parlophone or Warner Records since the band's hiatus.

The album features numerous appearances from musicians and actors, including posthumous appearances from Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, David Jolicoeur from De La Soul, Tony Allen, Proof, and Mark E. Smith.

It will feature performances in English, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. It will be produced by Damon Albarn, Remi Kabaka Jr., James Ford and Samuel Egglenton.

The album was debuted and performed in full in 2025 at a show during Gorillaz's 25th anniversary "House of Kong" exhibition, with a supporting tour scheduled this year.

So take a listen below to take you into the first weekend of autumn. We made it through summer. Praise be!