James William Blades is a British composer and producer based in New York. Primarily known as a film composer, Blades honed his singular musical aesthetic working alongside some of the world’s most exciting directors and artists, including Beyoncé, Letitia Wright, AG Rojas, Theaster Gates, Kahlil Joseph and Grace Wales Bonner.

Reframing the relationship between music, sound and image, Blades has created a unique sonic language he describes in terms of landscape painting. In 2023, he scored AG Rojas’ debut feature, Pare de Sufrir, alongside Mutt (dir. Vuk Lungulov-Kotz), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2024, he scored Tendaberry, which also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as Paramount’s Freediver, and the BAFTA-nominated Marion, produced by Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller.

Most recently, he collaborated with Letitia Wright on her directorial debut Highway to the Moon, as well as Oscar Boyson’s Our Hero Balthazar, starring Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell, which will be released in 2025.

His scores have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Serpentine Gallery, 180 The Strand, and Palais de Tokyo, and he is currently readying his debut solo productions for release.

A filmmaker in the broadest sense of the word, Blades’ extensive interdisciplinary experience marks him out as an artist in his own right, bringing an exciting and fresh approach to feature film composition.