James Blake - Overgrown
Critic Score
Based on 44 reviews
2013 Ratings: #48 / 1115
Year End Rank: #22
User Score
2013 Rank: #67
Liked by 162 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Line of Best Fit

With a work of such stark emotional beauty, Blake has picked up the torch once again with Overgrown.  In the end, you judge a musical journey by your own emotional response, and mine was blown wide open.

100
AllMusic

Though the stormy textures and somber reflections are pretty specific to a particular mood, Overgrown finds and fits that mood perfectly. While it might take listeners a few spins to find the right head space for the album, once they get there, it's an easy place to get lost in.

100
The Guardian

The abiding mood of James Blake's second album may be one of melancholy, but in every track there is a glinting nib of beauty wound into the melody or set at odds to it, something to cling on to.

92
Sputnikmusic

The record focuses much more on soul-laden balladry than anything else, showing off Blake's improved songwriting skills while casting a spotlight on his angelic tenor.

91
A.V. Club

James Blake’s talent is in his ability to smoothly synthesize disparate influences; his willingness to grow and develop while doing so is fascinating and frequently rapturous.

90
FasterLouder

Overgrown holds together beautifully, managing to cohere without wilting into monotony. Given how eclectic the album is, it’s a hell of a trick.

90
Loud and Quiet

It’s tempting to say that this is a headphones album, but that would be reductive; regardless of context, Blake’s intricate, layered achievement is remarkable.

90
musicOMH

Overgrown is a triumph. It is evidence of James Blake forging his own singular musical path, free from hype and expectation, and blossoming into both a producer of real compositional skill and a songwriter of great depth.

90
Resident Advisor

With only drums, bass and a sprinkle of reverb propping up his voice, Blake puts himself out there as he hasn't previously. The result is bone-chillingly gorgeous, right down to the feverish burst of pop strings that accompanies the final choruses. 

90
Clash

‘Overgrown’ remains closer knit, and paradoxically less fragmented than its illustrious predecessor, ideas rotating core values guided by an affirmatively unseen hand. Which ultimately makes this an even better record.

90
No Ripcord

The bottom line is, Overgrown is an unforgettable album by a limitlessly talented songwriter who, at 24 years old, may just be beginning to approach his prime.

90
Uncut
Always confident in his ability, here he conjures sublime moments with "Retrograde" and ""digital Lion" before violating each with curdled klaxons, his voice throughout pitched persuasively somewhere between Antony Hegarty and Jeff Buckley.
90
The 405

It's just as exciting as we've come to expect from him, and as forward-thinking as ever. 

85
Beats Per Minute

While James Blake felt aloof, even ahuman, Overgrown is packed with feeling, and releases it with the smallest of gestures. While its title suggests excess, this is a nuanced move towards accessibility.

83
Pretty Much Amazing

Overgrown is not the enigma that was his debut, but rather it is a first-rate album from a musician that isn’t all that interested in being enigmatic.  

80
Mojo
He understands the value of restraint, his meticulously assembled songs slowly giving up their secrets rather than tipping everything out at once.
80
Drowned in Sound

Far more than with his first album Overgrown is focused upon his songwriting rather than his technology, and it’s much stronger for it.

80
NOW Magazine

On Overgrown, the chord progressions are more complex and the lyrics less abstracted, but it's still the James Blake we love.

80
The Independent

At its best, Overgrown proves that James Blake doesn't need to listen to anyone's advice. He's doing fine already.

80
The Telegraph

Overgrown is underdeveloped, in the best possible sense, employing the sonic palette of state-of-the-art, digital dance music to pursue something almost completely contrary to the clubbing experience.

80
The Arts Desk

All his classical training and use of his own voice ... are not separate from the electronics, but of a part with it, the playing and the effects in a feedback loop with one another.

80
Mixmag
It’s intense, ambitious and, in places, uneasy listening, but at the core of ‘Overgrown’ lies unalloyed beauty.
80
Billboard

Blake takes a left turn with “Overgrown” and embraces a love for beautiful chords and moody atmospherics. It’s a more consistent album than his debut -- for better and for worse.

80
The Irish Times
For his second album, James Blake has decided to do more with less.
80
Evening Standard
Another album as strong as this and those dreams of longevity might just come true.
80
Slant Magazine

Blessed with a strange, ethereal voice, he could easily excel at music that matches its dulcet tones, but the pungent mixtures of high and low he concocts end up being far more thrilling.

80
Pitchfork

Overgrown is not as wall-to-wall great as his debut, but fans of the first LP will still find much to admire. The most promising development is his indulged fondness for various permutations of R&B and gospel styles

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

Overgrown is a remarkable effort from an artist who continues to do things his own way, regardless of the consequences.

80
The Fly

He’s absorbed new influences into the unique framework he creates around his songs, pulling in aspects of house, gospel and R&B to create something alluringly strange yet pleasingly palpable.

80
FACT Magazine

For all the newfound confidence and scope of these songs, they are still best viewed as dub versions of themselves: inversions of pop forms trading in negative space and decay, implication rather than exposition.

80
Consequence of Sound

James Blake may lose some fans with the tamer, more sultry sounds of Overgrown. But he’s going to gain a lot more. Without the cut-and-paste dubstep, his music suddenly becomes quite radio friendly

80
NME

It’s not an easy listen, but it may just be one of the most nuanced, soothing and adventurous of 2013. 

75
Under the Radar

While Blake hasn't attempted anything startlingly new on Overgrown, he's certainly still the master of his own musical vocabulary—effortlessly compounding dark and nebulous electronic production with a soul, gospel, and R&B aesthetic.

70
Rolling Stone

He sings in a pretty, dusky warble, but often doesn't enunciate his lyrics; he's less a songwriter than a conjurer of melodies. But at its finest, Blake's mood music has some magic in it. It holds you in its spell.

70
PopMatters

Whatever Overgrown’s disappointments, it still bears the mark of a young songwriter of obscene talent. 

70
The Needle Drop

On James Blake's latest album, the various sides to his musical personality blend together into a pretty uniform set of tracks that combine detailed electronica, chorus-based songwriting, piano, and Blake's sharp voice.

70
SPIN

Overgrown's biggest fault is lack of quality control; it's an uneven listen, with peaks like "Retrograde" segueing into the quotidian piano recital of "DLM," with an undistinguished back half that doesn't linger in the mind afterward.

70
Exclaim!

Blake purportedly focused on his songwriting, inspired by a new relationship and the distance of non-stop touring, and the result is the lush Overgrown.

65
Spectrum Culture
He’s just too unique a talent to completely discard, however difficult he sometimes insists on presenting himself.
65
XLR8R

At it best moments, Overgrown proves that the two sides of James Blake—the dancefloor oddball and the crossover songwriter—can exist side by side, but it also demonstrates that, at least right now, the balance between the two is totally off.

64
Paste

He hasn’t grown enough as a lyricist to carry his piano-based compositions, and as a producer, he’s shown a more stylish hand with diva turns and silence than his own voice

60
The Observer

The London producer with the voice like a bruise remains perennially inconsolable here.

60
Q Magazine
His sometimes-still-too-warbly voice is the main instrument on this follow-up, but it's pockmarked with new friends' influence.
60
DIY

Always subtle, usually elegant and generally very easy to appreciate, but never implanting itself onto your mind with red-hot intent.

Missing_Lyriks
90

Dude got my neurodivergent brain going BRRRRRRRR!

I never thought that Electronic and Art Pop could be taken this far in companionship. Yes, I know Imogean Heap mixed them a few years back, but this is a whole different beast we’re dealing with here.

For something so scarce, it is so intriguing and deep.

ST4T1C
95

Such a jump in quality from self-titled to here, holy shit.

“Overgrown” is exactly what I was expecting from from his debut, but fully realized and actually amazing all the way through. The grooves across this whole thing are just so fucking infectious and amazingly done, I was pretty much floating through time and space listening to this shit. Also loved that he actually dropped the auto tuned on here, his normal singing voice is so much prettier with out it and it actually helps ... read more

CJay
90

Everything that was James Blake Self titled is amazingly achieved on Overgrown

While Overgrown is a little more, as some people say, "mainstream," James still leans into that experimentation, just not as heavily and weakly executed. On Overgrown, the atmosphere is cold and empty, but it's done in a memorable and surprisingly colorful way. The production on each track is amazing, sounding cold and barren, just like the album cover. I listen to each track and feel like there's ... read more

oskar4
82

Overgrown: 90 ★
I Am Sold: 90 ★
Life Round Here: 90 ★
Take a Fall For Me: 80
Retrograde: 80
DLM: 80
Digital Lion: 70
Voyeur: 70
To the Last: 90 ★
Our Love Comes Back: 80

Average: 82 / 100

MaineGameBoy
70

Pretty nice stuff! Might need to give this a relisten

Extri
82

Incredible. Nothing more, Nothing less

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Added on: February 7, 2013