Album Review

Blake – Start Over

• 8th Feb 2013

Start Over is the fourth album from the Brit Award winning quartet Blake. Their previous albums are perhaps best described as classical-pop crossover, but this one is a little different. It’s unashamedly a pop album, a collection of fourteen pop songs delivered with originality, fine vocals and some great harmonies. Sure, it’s a bit cheesy at times. But if you don’t go looking for deeper meaning and just decide to enjoy the music then it is kind of feelgood fun.

It would be unfair to call Blake a boy band with all that the term implies. But then what else can you call a group of four young men who sing pop songs? A man band perhaps … What is clear is that Ollie Baines, Stephen Bowman, Jules Knight and Humphrey Berney know how to sing, and do so very well. The production on the album is light, meaning that their fine voices are always at the centre of the music. And that‘s exactly as it should be.

This album was funded through a Pledge Music campaign, which achieved more than its target. £8 was the minimum pledge, but for a mere £100 you could have had your name in the album’s credits and, at the top of the list, £4,000 would have bought you a day at a health spa – with all four band members, no less.

The title track is also the first single from the album. Start Over is a typically lush and powerful song, optimistic and alternating between solos and those great harmonies. Rewind has a similar theme and could also be a single. The optimistic, let’s start over again, lyrics are uplifting and it is basically a good love song. The slower piano ballad I’m Drowning is similarly powerful, while the closing All Of Me builds to a big chorus that is simple yet heartfelt.

In addition to the ten original songs on the album, there are also four cover versions. Amazed by Lonestar loses its country sound and the near classical delivery is very moving. Paul McCartney’s Beautiful Night is slower and perhaps misses its pop tone a little. Make You Feel My Love (or To Make You Feel My Love as the album calls it) is beautiful, the clear diction making it sound very different from the way Bob Dylan sings it. The Eagles’ classic Desperado is perhaps closer to its original vocal performance than the other covers, although the orchestral backing alters its feel considerably.

Blake will be touring to support Start Over – but without one of their founder members. Jules Knight is going back to his acting roots as he joins the cast of BBC1’s medical drama Holby City. The three existing member are looking for a new addition to the band at present. Whoever he is, he will need to have a fine voice to fit in.

Venue: Start Over
Support Band: Music Infinity