Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer James Blake releases the official video for his new single “Thrown Around.”
Marking his first official release of the year as an independent artist under his label CMYK, “Thrown Around” arrived over the weekend to immediate praise from the likes of Stereogum, The FADER, and Hypebeast.
Of the track James shares, “‘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.” James adds, “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.”
For the release, James Blake partnered with STEM for distribution services, and with Good Boy and Stellar Music on indify for support around funding and marketing services. Through this collaboration, he can retain ownership and control of his music career. On the partnership, CEO & Co-founder of indify Shav Garg shared, “We are incredibly proud to support an artist as influential as James Blake on his new journey as an independent artist. We know this is only the beginning as he is leading the way for many artists and to them we say, ‘You are not alone.’”
Additionally, Good Boy + Stellar state, “We’re all excited to explore a new, forward-thinking setup around James’ new music – which is in Good Boy and Stellar’s DNA; Artist friendly deals, master points for writers, and full transparency around all aspects of a rollout.”
Earlier this year James Blake also announced his collaboration with artist-focused streaming service VAULT, alongside CEO and Founder David Greenstein. In an effort to connect more directly with his fans, he has begun releasing exclusive never-before-heard music on the platform. James hopes to inspire more musicians to sign up while utilizing a more streamlined approach to releasing exclusive music.
On the horizon, after teasing the collaboration earlier this year, fans also patiently await the arrival of James Blake and Lil Yachty’s highly anticipated upcoming project Bad Cameo. While there is no release date yet, the two promise that the genre-bending project will arrive soon. After a performance this past weekend at Jack Harlow’s Gazebo Festival, he continues to hit the stage this year with upcoming festival performances at Lightning in a Bottle, Glastonbury, and Bumbershoot, among others. Next month, James Blake also brings his musical vision to life with a CMYK performance at Knockdown Center in New York on June 14thv
