James Blake has announced “Say What You Will”, a new collaborative single with Finneas arriving this week.
Blake took to Instagram to announce the new single, sharing a photo of himself standing in front of a spread of magazines with Finneas’ face on the covers. “Say What You Will” is due for release this Thursday, July 22.
“Say What You Will” is possibly the first glimpse into Blake’s upcoming fifth album, which he has completed, he confirmed earlier this month.
In a red carpet interview with Billboard at the 2020 Grammys, Blake said Finneas would be a “dream collaborator” to work with.
While the track has not been officially released yet, “Say What You Will” was first unveiled to fans in one of Blake’s several intimate livestream performances on Instagram Live in April 2020. In these livestreams, Blake also covered songs by Joy Division, Radiohead, and Beyoncé.
Since then, Blake has released two EPs: ‘Before’, which comprised original tracks, and a ‘Covers’ EP where Blake took on Billie Eilish’s “When The Party’s Over”, which was written and produced by Finneas, Eilish’s brother.
While spending time at home during lockdown, Blake spent much of his days performing fan requested covers on social media. With such a positive response the artist went on to officially release his wildly popular cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed,” which generated over 5 million views on TikTok and sparked high praise from fans and press alike, with Hypebeast noting, “He exudes his ghostly vocals throughout, layering his soul-inflecting delivery over the skeletal piano chords.”
“It’s been a joy to discover new music and new ways of playing songs I’ve already heard,” Blake said of creating the ‘Covers’ EP.
Blake’s most recent album, the acclaimed Assume Form, dropped at the beginning of 2019. He has released four studio albums in total: his 2011 self-titled debut, 2013’s Overgrown, 2016’s The Colour in Everything and Assume Form.
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