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Watch James Blake’s Literally Earth-Shattering ‘Retrograde’ Video

James Blake 'Retrograde' Video

Post-dubstep Englishman and alt-R&B quietist James Blake returned from the ether last week with his new single, “Retrograde,” a finger-snapping bit of soul-dripped doom that felt sexy in a strangely bleak way. The initial stream of that song has disappeared from the Internets, but that’s okay because there’s a music video now. Directed by Denmark’s Martin De Thurah (David Byrne and St. Vincent), the eerie clip follows a motorcycle rider as she races to reach a house party in the woods, only to discover that the intimate soiree has an incoming uninvited guest: a massive asteroid that seems arrow-aimed directly at everyone she knows. “You’re on your own in a world you’ve grown,” Blake coos, and later, “Suddenly I’m hit / Is this darkness or the dawn? / And your friends are gone.” His sophomore album Overgrown comes to us on April 8 via Republic. Brace for impact.