Perry Blake (born 10 May 1970) is an Irish singer and songwriter from Sligo, Ireland, known for the delicate,

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may b ...

, melancholic style of his songs and his soft singing voice.

Career

Blake's 1998 self-titled debut album was successful in the United Kingdom and won critical praise. His first single, "The Hunchback Of San Francisco", came from this album. His second release, ''Still Life'', contained contributions from Steve Jansen, while his third album, ''California'', was co-produced with Italian composer

Marco Sabiu Marco Sabiu (born 1 September 1963) is an Italian-born musician and composer who has worked with Take That, Kylie Minogue, Lydia Canaan, Barry Blue, Christopher Lee, and made music for television. Career Born in the village of Forlì in Romag ...

and featured Dickon Hinchliffe of

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and the former

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drummer Neil Conti. Blake is popular in France, where his music was used for the soundtracks of the films ''

Presque rien ''Presque rien'' (meaning ''Almost Nothing'', which is also the UK release title; the U.S. title is ''Come Undone'') is a 2000 French-Belgian romantic drama film directed by Sebastien Lifshitz, set in Brittany, depicting a stormy holiday romance ...

'' (2000, for which he also wrote the original music) and ''

Trois Petites Filles ''Trois'' is a 2000 erotic thriller film directed by Rob Hardy and produced by William Packer. It stars Gary Dourdan, Kenya Moore and Gretchen Palmer. The film was given a limited theatrical release and was one of the years highest grossing Afri ...

'' (2004).Perry Blake to play Dublin concert
, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 25 November 2004. Retrieved 22 January 2010 Blake's musical influences include

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

, Scott Walker, and Nick Drake.Hayes, Kelvin " Perry Blake Biography,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Retrieved 22 January 2010 He has collaborated with

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career o ...

and wrote two songs for her award-winning ''Tant de belles choses'' album. He has also worked with French electronic star

Émilie Simon Émilie Simon (; born 1978 in Montpellier, Occitanie, France) is a French singer, songwriter and composer of electronic music. Music ''Émilie Simon'' In May 2003, she released her debut album '' Émilie Simon''. The electronic album was cr ...

. In June 2014, Blake released an electronic pop album, ''Modern Love'' under the name Electro Sensitive Behaviour, with longtime collaborators Glenn Garrett and Graham Murphy, whom he has worked with since his first album in 1998. Perry is now signed to and managed by Cumbrian-based label Moochin' About.

Discography

;Studio albums *''Perry Blake'' (1998) (Polydor) *''Still Life'' (1999) (Naive) *''California'' (2002) (Naive) *''Songs for Someone'' (2004) (Naive) *''The Crying Room'' (2006) (Blu Orchard/Warner France) *'' Canyon Songs'' (2007) (Reekus Records) *''Songs Of Praise'' (2019) (Moochin' About) *New Years Wish (2020) (Moochin' About) ;Live albums *''Broken Statues (Live at Cirque Royal, Nuits Botanique, Brussels on 29 September 2000)'' (2001) (Naive) ;Soundtracks *''Presque rien'' (2000) (Naive) ;Others *''Modern Love'' (2014) (Orchard-Lily, iTunes release) as Electro Sensitive Behaviour

References

External links

Official website
*
Concert Photos (The Black Sessions)
by Laurent Orseau
Discogs.com entry
1970 births Living people Musicians from County Sligo 21st-century Irish male singers Naïve Records artists {{Ireland-singer-stub