James Blake Announces Sophomore Album, Premieres New Single

Published Feb 07, 2013

When English indie heartthrob James Blake announced plans to hit the road in North America for a spring tour, reports suggested that his new album might be on the way sooner rather than later. Now, the electronically minded balladeer has officially confirmed the impending release of his second LP.Blake's new album is called, and it's due out April 8 via Republic . The first single is called "Retrograde," and it will premiere today (February 7) on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 . The single officially drops on February 11.A press release promises that the disc finds Blake developing as a songwriter while "returning to the brain melting electronic perfection of his early releases on Hemlock and Hessle, moving way beyond any post-dubstep pigeonholes to include stunning reinterpretations of both hip-hop and house."Blake has been playing new material during recent live shows, including a track allegedly called "Overgrown," which you can check out at the bottom of this page. His upcoming schedule consists of North American gigs in April and May, and includes Canadian stops in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. See the full itinerary below.Tour dates:2/26 London, UK - ICA4/14 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival4/16-17 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine4/18 Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre4/21 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival4/23 Seattle, WA - Neptune4/24 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom4/25 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom4/27 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot4/28 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre5/1 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue5/2 Chicago, IL - Metro5/3 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre5/4 Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall5/6 Montreal, QC- Metropolis5/8 Boston, MA - House of Blues5/9 New York, NY - Terminal 55/11 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts5/12 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club5/13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle5/14 Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade5/24 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound5/29 Madrid, Spain - Sala Capital