See James Blake’s Unadorned Cover of Don McLean’s ‘Vincent’
James Blake gifted fans with a pre-Christmas present Sunday as the British singer released the studio take of his unadorned rendition of Don McLean‘s “Vincent.”
After frequently performing the American Pie song about Vincent Van Gogh in concert over the past year, Blake entered Los Angeles’ Conway Studios earlier this month to lay down the track.
Like those live renditions, Blake’s version strips the song to its core as the singer runs through the track accompanied only by piano. “Vincent” is also available to stream or download on all major services, with that version the recipient of some minute studio touches.
Following his busy 2016 – in addition to releasing his latest LP The Colour of Anything, Blake also produced “Forward” for Beyonce’s Lemonade, worked on Frank Ocean’s Blonde and recruited Vince Staples for a “Timeless” remix – the singer has been relatively quiet in 2017, only dropping his Natalie Portman-starring “My Willing Heart” video in March and collaborating on Kendrick Lamar’s “Element.”
Blake has debuted a handful of new songs during his 2017 shows, including tracks titled “Lul Bye,” “I Can’t Believe the Way We Flow” and “Loath to Roam.”