James Blake Shares Mesmerizing New Song/Video, “If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead”

James Blake is back. The English electro auteur, currently at work on new material, has shared his first new original song in two years, the hypnotic “If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead.”

Blake’s new song is accompanied by an entrancing, Alexander Brown-directed music video that plays with light much the same way as “If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead” plays with sound. Filmed around Los Angeles, the video manages to sync perfectly with Blake’s spectral, chopped-up vocals, following the singer as he anonymously motors through the city, haunting the highways like a ghost. “If the car beside you moves ahead / As much as it feels as though you’re dead / You’re not going backwards,” he sings as the video becomes increasingly surreal.

“If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead,” written and produced by Blake, first aired on Thursday night during his BBC Radio 1 Residency. The artist recently shared a surprise cover, debuting a rework of Don McLean’s “Vincent” on Christmas Eve—you can watch that below. He also appeared on a song from Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther: The Album, “King’s Dead.”

Blake recently announced a one-off headlining show at London’s Roundhouse set for Feb. 5, which promptly sold out. From there, he’ll perform alongside Lamar at a number of U.K. and European stops on the DAMN. Tour. And this summer, Blake will perform at Governors Ball in New York City, after it was revealed that his was the mysterious name blacked out on the festival’s initial lineup poster.

Between his increasingly busy tour schedule and his new single, 2018 is shaping up to be a big year for Blake. A new album would be his first since 2016’s acclaimed The Colour in Anything.

Watch the “If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead” video below (or stream the track here), and find Blake’s tour slate further down.

James Blake Tour Dates:

February
05 – London, U.K. @ Roundhouse *
07 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena ^
09 – Birmingham, U.K. @ Genting Arena ^
10 – Manchester, U.K. @ Arena ^
11 – Glasgow, U.K. @ SSE Hydro ^
12 – London, U.K. @ The O2 ^
13 – London, U.K. @ The O2 ^
15 – Frankfurt, Germany @ Festhalle ^
20 – London, U.K. @ The SSE Arena, Wembley ^
22 – Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena ^
23 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome ^
25 – Paris, France @ AccorHotels Arena ^
27 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Sportpaleis ^

March
01 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena ^
02 – Oslo, Norway @ Telenor Arena ^
03 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Ericsson Globe ^
05 – Berlin, Germany @ Mercedes-Benz Arena ^

June
01-03 – New York, N.Y. @ Governors Ball

(* – headline show)
(^ – DAMN Tour (w/ Kendrick Lamar)