Blake: Blake
Blake: evidently a bit chilly on the beach.
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Monday, 05, Nov 2007 12:57
UCJ, out 5th 2007.
In a nutshell...
The classical poster boys of Gen 2.0
What's it all about?
Cross-genre experimentation hasn't always been good. When Fred Durst came on the scene, bloated arms flailing like he knew he needed to be rescued from the distended monster that was rock-rap, many proclaimed it dead. However, unbeknownst to Durst and the other famous failures of fusion, dissatisfaction was mounting in another area of Planet Pop that only a mongrel genre could sate. Chart music fans had long felt that opera was out of their league - dramatic, expensive and hampered by foreign accents. Opera aficionados, meanwhile, were silently bemoaning the lack of eye candy within their chosen genre, quietly murmuring that while the sturdy physique of the typical tenor may be good for many things, opera was suffering from a distinct lack of cuties. Both groups had an itch that desperately needed scratching. Il Divo came along and sure, they were fresh, but something was still missing. Then the X Factor stepped in, providing the dulcet tones of G4 - still, the itch was there, and growing more pronounced by the day.
Who's it by?
The boys who are going to rid you of that itch forever. Blake are four simple lads from the UK who are going to blast your preconceptions about the pop-opera crossover - referred to by those 'in the know' as popera - into the stratosphere. Dom, Jules, Steve and Ollie might be choristers but they didn't meet at some posh school like a certain group beginning with G and they weren't headhunted by pop's most ruthless henchman like another group ending with o. No, Blake met on a social networking website, and before you say, "No! I've had enough of MySpace!" you should know that that these four boys are too forward-looking even for Murdoch. This quartet of groundbreakers are so way ahead of the Arctic Monkeys all the band members look like ants with eating disorders, and don't even mention Lily Allen - she's just a speck of sand to these trailblazers. Yes, Blake are the first ever band to form on Facebook. An impromptu sing-along at a house party to album hit Moon River and the boys knew they had something special. Interested? I thought so.
As an example...
"Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah" - from Hallelujah, strangely enough (a cover of Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen - meta!)
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
If Blake don't win awards, something is seriously wrong with the driving principles of the accolade-giving system operated by the record industry.
What the others say
"From Facebook to fame in five minutes." - Hello! magazine
"Fame, looks and chemistry" - The Evening Standard
So is it any good?
The bad boys of the classical scene are also its brightest hope. Not just a throwaway gift for a forgotten mother like so many of its predecessors and definitely not a cynical corporate exercise, Blake have crafted an immaculate album, blending beautiful pop classics like Hallelujah with rousing singalongs like unofficial rugby anthem Swing Low and the haunting Yo Te Voy A Amar (I'll Make Love to You). Sure, there'll be doubters. Many might harbour negative memories of unwanted seasonal gifts, more still might feel dwarfed by the talent displayed here - this is not your run-of-the-mill warbling boy band and these small-town kids really can sing. But why shouldn't popera be a career? Why shouldn't these stylish nomads find a home after years of feeling hopelessly estranged from the separate spheres of classical and pop? This record will be cherished by anyone who has ever felt like mainstream classifications just didn't do the music they loved justice. In the grand tradition of centuries of mavericks - Yoko Ono, Dylan, Radiohead - Blake refuse to be compartmentalised. Let's give that experimental spirit a chance this Christmas, shall we?
10/10
Sophie Jones
To read our interview with Blake's Ollie Baines, click here.
"I disagree with you completely, there's nothing missing with Il Divo. I think their sales prove that I am right." - Christine Porter.
"The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is not posh! I think Marlborough College,etc are rather more. Do get your facts right!" - Clemmie Attleton
"Dissing Arctic Monkeys loses your credibility. It is so irrational and attention-seeking that it's sad. Oh well." - Tom Tristan