\u201cIt feels scary to go independent, but here we are,\u201d he wrote at the time. \u201cJust trying to break free of the algorithm gods gatekeeping art.\u201d<\/p>\n
This coincided with another transition in Blake leaving Los Angeles. The U.K.-born artist had lived in the city for more than a decade \u2014 just about as long as he had been under major labels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole time I was in L.A., on every call, in every conversation I had about my music, it felt like people were just excited that there was someone famous on it,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat\u2019s not just because of the fame obsession, but it\u2019s also that they\u2019re looking out for the shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he first moved to L.A., it gave him a \u201cslowness\u201d and a pace of life that was less demanding than in other cities. It\u2019s perhaps what L.A. is best known for, but its other, more infamous traits began to show over time.<\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773477919_289_.jpeg\")
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Blake recently made the decision to leave Los Angeles for London after living in the city for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
(The Tyler Twins \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized at some point, L.A. was for me \u2014 and quite a few people who are not native \u2014 a sort of rehab where I needed to go to work things out,\u201d Blake continues. \u201cIt also comes with the corrupt value system of Hollywood, the music industry. \u2026 It\u2019s a place where there is a system set up to basically drain any talented people who come there financially, right? You just plug into the matrix and that\u2019s it. You\u2019re just hooked up to the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite having a very \u201cprivileged\u201d version of the L.A. lifestyle, he still couldn\u2019t quite strip himself free of its qualms. This became especially apparent during the pandemic, when many artists in the city \u2014 including himself \u2014 began to paper over the cracks and were perceived as living as usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up kind of paying everybody else\u2019s bills, basically. And then being like, \u2018how do I pay mine?\u2019\u201d he recalls. <\/p>\n
And that\u2019s when home beckoned to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing back to London was great for me because the industry is not quite the same here, and it\u2019s easier to live cheaply,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He also clarifies that the industry and working machine of L.A. are entirely different from the actual city and its people: \u201cI\u2019ve had some of the happiest moments of my life in L.A. I\u2019m so privileged and feel so grateful that I got to live there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he quickly found himself back to square one; back to where it all started. His path had landed him in London, the same city where he\u2019d begun recording music from his bedroom while studying at Goldsmiths University of London.<\/p>\n
He says he was in debt on account of paying other people\u2019s bills after becoming an independent artist. Eventually, he was able to \u201csteady the ship,\u201d and \u201cTrying Times\u201d was born. <\/p>\n
\u201cI will stand on the rooftop and shout about it, probably forever. I feel like I never want to stop promoting it,\u201d he says of the album.<\/p>\n
The album reflects all the turmoil and subsequent tranquility that Blake found within the music. This is perhaps most evident on \u201cRest of Your Life,\u201d which is more reminiscent of his earlier EPs, such as \u201cCMYK,\u201d than projects he\u2019s put out in the past few years.<\/p>\n
It opens with a Dusty Springfield sample because, simply, \u201cI love it.\u201d But the rest of the song is anchored by Blake\u2019s production and lyrical prowess.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s playing on that sort of mantra thing, where it\u2019s just this one thing going over and over, going round and round,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
This is ever-present in his music. If you look as early as his debut, it\u2019s found on \u201cThe Wilhelm Scream,\u201d where he loops \u201cI don\u2019t know about my dreams \/ I don\u2019t know about my dreamin\u2019 anymore \/ All that I know is \/ I\u2019m fallin\u2019, fallin\u2019, fallin\u2019, fallin\u2019 \/ Might as well fall in.\u201d<\/p>\n
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For \u201cTrying Times,\u201d Blake looked to his past, drawing inspiration from \u201cThe Colour in Anything,\u201d which he released a decade ago.<\/p>\n
(The Tyler Twins \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the way, they\u2019re not even my lyrics, they\u2019re my dad\u2019s lyrics,\u201d he notes with a smile. \u201cI love those lyrics because they\u2019re ambiguous enough, but they\u2019re also something that we can apply a meaning to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years later, on \u201cLife Round Here,\u201d he repeats, \u201cEverything feels like touchdown on a rainy day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the form of a mantra does is it means that you don\u2019t really have to worry about wrapping things up,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes that can be really powerful, because you\u2019re allowing the brain to shut off and allow the feelings to come through without stimulating thought. You can let people be in their bodies. You can let people just live in their emotional selves and just not have to compute what you\u2019re trying to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
It creates a hypnotic sound that makes songs flow rather than drone on, especially when backed by Blake\u2019s enthralling production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Colour in Anything,\u201d an album that he cites as a strong inspiration for \u201cTrying Times,\u201d contains \u201cChoose Me,\u201d perhaps the pinnacle of this practice. Amid a looping vocal recording, Blake declares distortedly, \u201cI\u2019d rather you choose me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That retrospective came down to a conversation with his longtime girlfriend, the actor Jameela Jamil, who, after Blake had spent countless hours studying historically successful albums as reference, suggested that the answer for creating \u201cTrying Times\u201d was actually in himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou contain within you the answer to this record,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n
What came of it was a far more concise album: \u201cAll meat, no fat,\u201d he says, before pausing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said this before, but I\u2019m vegetarian, so I don\u2019t know how to use that phrase properly,\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n
A particular highlight is \u201cDays Go By,\u201d about the inability to be present in life, something that Blake has struggled with in the past. Notably, his previous decisions to tack it up to other, prevalent life circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t keep blaming the city \/ I can\u2019t keep saying I\u2019m busy \/ Days on days go by \/ And nothing gets done,\u201d he sings, while an electronically-doused \u201cI love you\u201d loops in the background.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the interesting things about L.A. was, when I moved there, I couldn\u2019t really blame the city anymore because I wasn\u2019t in an oppressive place,\u201d he remembers. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect encapsulation of, \u2018S\u2014, I need to grow, I need to figure this out, and it\u2019s not going to happen by just going along with life as it is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But perhaps the best thing to come of the record was that Blake was able to \u201csolve some riddles\u201d that had haunted him for quite some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started on the road to building a blueprint for what the next phase of the music industry looks like, by partnering with all these companies and discovering new streams of income for artists,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something he\u2019s long been involved in and advocated for, even participating in the launch of direct-to-consumer music platform vault.fm as a flagship artist in an effort to address royalty issues. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m working on something right now,\u201d he says, careful not to reveal too much. \u201cIt\u2019s just centralizing all of the different parts of the road map that I\u2019ve been trying to build for myself.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now, it seems this road map may help to pave the way for newer artists as they endeavor to take the more logistical steps of their careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not someone who\u2019s gonna try and lead anything \u2026 I\u2019m just pointing at stuff and going, \u2018That\u2019s transparent! Oh, that place doesn\u2019t try to own your masters forever!\u2019 I\u2019m going, \u2018I think this is good, they have the right ethics and morals.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n