Cork-based songwriter/musician John Blek is clearly a creative multihyphenate kind of guy. For the past 10 years, he has steered a steady course from one classy music style to another, be it the folksy ruminations of his debut, Leave Your Love at the Door, or the alt.country tunes of Borders (with his occasional band, The Rats).
Blek’s latest album swaps a spry sparseness for the musical equivalent of luxury. Recorded a year ago, the album’s 10 tracks are textbook examples of how to imbue songs with elegance without losing sight of the often strong-minded intent that inspired them in the first place.
The underlying music themes for Until the Rivers Run Dry, Blek writes in the PR blurb, brim with “Paul McCartney moments and Scott Walker swagger”, and while these influences are imperceptibly filtered throughout, alongside hints of classic pop songs by other notable artists, the most obvious reference points belong to Blek’s casual yet singular artistic grace.
Indeed, listening to gems of songs such as Once in a While, Restless Sea, Raven’s Cry, Lyric & Air, Come Undone, the sublime closing track, Floating Aimlessly, and the rest (most of which feature featherlight strings by Colm Mac Con Iomaire and backing/co-vocals by Cathy Davey) you might wonder why on earth Blek remains one of Ireland’s best-kept secrets.
Fingers crossed that this year changes that.
