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James Blake working with Kanye West


James Blake has enlisted the help of Kanye West and Bon Iver for his third album.

The ‘Retrograde’ singer, who is working on the follow-up to his successful second record ‘Overgrown’, which was released last year, and has teamed up with the ‘Bound 2’ rapper and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

He told Billboard magazine: "I’m getting there. Every song is about 50 per cent done.

"There are people I’ve been talking to for a while who so far we haven’t really linked up just because of scheduling, but recently we have.

"Justin – Bon Iver – I’ve done some writing with and I think we’ll continue to do that, and you know sporadically Kanye when he’s around. It’s hard to say what’ll end up on the record."

The Mercury Prize winner is eyeing an early 2015 release for the new album and claims there is a third big name he is planning to work with but he’s keeping their identity a secret at the moment.

He added: "There’s somebody else I don’t want to mention right now, but who I’m really excited about too."

James, 25, admits he’s had a "completely different life" since the release of his self-titled debut album in 2011 and claims he has a lot more freedom when it comes to writing.

He said: "The [album] I’m writing now, I’ve had more focus doing this than I have before. I’m having more fun."