Blake - Launch Event

They are the group that formed on Facebook, named after the poet and artist William Blake and their own story has something of a modern day fairytale about it too.

Stephen Bowman, Dominic Tighe, Jules Knight and Ollie Baines all knew or knew of each other from an early age through schools, choirs or other productions; Stephen and Ollie both attended the London Guildhall School of Music, whilst Jules and Dom attended the Central School of Speech & Drama. They had all made contact with one another through Facebook and then attended a party together in London. It was whilst at this party that someone started playing the piano. The boys sang and harmonized together and knew they were onto something. They tracked down Daniel Glatman, again through Facebook, who after hearing them offered to manage them and got them to meet with Universal Music. They were offered a record deal on the spot and now just four months after that party, their self-titled debut album is out for release on November 5th.

Their recent showcase launch at the Mayfair Hotel in London attracted a huge crowd; not only of friends and family, but also people within the music industry keen to see what this group had to offer that would set them apart from other classical crossover artists.

At first, you might be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much difference between Blake and established artists like Il Divo simply because they are a well spoken, immaculately groomed, good looking, 4-piece male group but they have a rare, compelling sound that is unlike other groups. Their harmonization comprises of four very unique and distinct voices that don’t drown out one another, but work together to bring a certain ‘magic’ to their performance and highlight the beauty of the music and the meaning of the lyrics.

For their showcase launch they performed five different styles of song which further illustrated the diversity of their vocal talents and also how their musical arrangements differed from other groups. Although the songs they performed were all familiar to the listener, they had all been completely reworked and re-arranged to produce an incredible sound. In Paradisum, for example, which is taken from the theme of the film Gladiator, was a combination of anthem, requiem, gospel choir and string section which was incredibly powerful and spine tingling at the same time. On the other hand, the popular Beach Boys’ classic God Only Knows was a more polished, articulate version of the original and well harmonized. Thankfully they didn’t try to give it that operatic sound that other artists have tried in the past with other songs, and in my opinion, it sounded all the better for it.

They also performed Hallelujah (previously performed by artists like Rufus Wainwright) and Yo Te Voy a Amar (N Sync). Both songs were perfectly arranged for their voices and gave them a very natural and well blended sound.

Closing their performance, they sang the song that had got them all together in the first place - Moon River. They sang this song A Capella and so not only were you able to hear each individual voice in its pure state, but also how combined together they added to the beauty of the music and gave the lyrics added poignancy.

Their career looks to be off to a promising start with forthcoming appearances on TV and Radio and with one of their songs included in the Rugby World Cup Album – World in Union, I’m sure it won’t be long before their name is as well known as the poet and author that inspires them.

Added: September 14th 2007
Reviewer: xantha
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