‘Death of a Society’ cements the legacy of a key Françoise Hardy collaborator.
Irish singer-songwriter Perry Blake, who largely came to fame in France and flourished with a career that brought opportunity throughout Europe, presents his new album ‘Death of a Society Girl’, released via Moochin’ About Records with nine compositions on offer, including the focus track ‘Let’s Fall In Love’.
A stunning body of work and his first music in five years, following the critically acclaimed ‘Songs of Praise’ (5 Stars MOJO), this album marks 26 years for Blake as a recording artist. Very much of the here and now, this album also offers traces of Perry’s previous heady work – not dissimilar to his French Top-40 eponymous debut album.
Known for his delicate, downtempo and beautifully melancholic output and uniquely soothing timbre, he is well known as a collaborator of Françoise Hardy, who sang on ‘War in France’ (from her album ‘Still Life’). He also contributed lyrics for her platinum-selling album ‘Tant de belles choses’, having co-written, mixed and produced two songs (‘Moments’ and ‘So Many Things’) on this record, together with Marco Sabiuhe. Blake would later release his own version of the latter track.
Earlier, Blake released the epic title track ‘Death of a Society Girl’ featuring British actor Paul McGann, known worldwide for his roles in BBC’s ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Withnail & I’, ‘Empire of the Sun’, ‘Alien 3’ and ‘Queen of the Damned’. He also teased the light-filled cinematic single ‘Concertina’ shortly before the album’s release.
Co-written and co-produced with long-term collaborator Graham Murphy (Clannad, Sharon Shannon, Marie Brennan), this album features Blake’s hallmark surrealist lyrics and original artwork by Syrian-born artist Helen Abbas.
Hailing from Sligo county, Perry Blake has been dubbed one of music’s great untapped resources. Polydor UK released his debut album ‘Perry Blake’ in 1998 (with three ‘Singles of the Week’ on Jo Wiley BBC Radio 1), after which he moved to France. He achieved cult status there and across Europe, releasing a string of critically-acclaimed studio albums, a live album recorded at Cirque Royal Brussels with a full orchestra, as well as the soundtracks for ‘Presque Rien’ and ‘Trois Petites Filles’.
Over the years, his musical endeavors have led him to collaborate with numerous musical luminaries, including Toby Pitman (Paul McCartney, George Michael, David Arnold, Clint Mansell, Shirley Bassey), Steve Jansen (Japan, Rain Tree Crow), Glenn Garrett ( Dead Can Dance, Brendan Perry), Neil Conti (David Bowie, Prefab Sprout), Rik Carter (The Mission, All About Eve), Marco Sabiu (Ennio Morricone, Tanita Tikaram, Luciano Pavarotti), Dickon Hinchliffe (Tindersticks), and world -renowned French electronic artist Émilie Simon.
Perry Blake’s melancholic, melodic soundscapes have featured in many European TV series and cinematic works. Between 2006 and 2011, these include ‘Tiger Lily’ and ‘Clara Sheller’ (France’s version of ‘Sex in the City’), plus hit Italian movie ‘L’uomo cheama’ starring Monica Belluci. He has also appeared regularly on French TV and toured Europe with Carla Bruni, as well as with the French National Jazz Orchestra.
Perry Blake has published the children’s book ‘Gatos em Lissadell’, as part of a collection by 12 authors, including former US president Jimmy Carter, Will Smith and Julie Andrews. He also has a separate collaborative music project with Glenn Garrett and Graham Murphy, called Electro Sensitive Behavior.
‘Death of a Society Girl’ is now available exclusively for download via Bandcamp – this edition includes three bonus remixes by UK electronic artists KosmetiQ and Inertia. On July 5, the album will be released on CD and digitally via other fine music platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify.
ALBUM CREDITS
All songs written by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy
Recorded at Orchardleigh, North West Ireland & the Production Suite Dublin
Engineered and mixed by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy at the Production Suite Dublin
Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc America
Produced by Perry Blake & Graham Murphy
Perry Blake – Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Graham Murphy – Bass, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Additional Drum Programming, String Arrangements.
Artwork by Helen Abbas
Album cover design by Jason Lee Lazell
Released by Moochin’ About @2024
Distributed via PIAS @2024
Advertising by Shameless Promotion PR
Artist photos by Sid Rainey
TRACK LIST
1.Requiem
2.One of These Days
3.Nobody’s Child
4.Song of The Wind
5.Let’s Fall In Love
6.Concertina
7.Rules of Love
8.Death of a Society Girl
9.Hummingbirds
DISCOGRAPHY
Perry Blake (Polydor 1998)
Still Life (Naive 1999)
Presque Rien Ep (Naive 2000)
Broken Statues – Live album (Naive 2001)
California (Naive 2002)
Songs for Someone (Naive 2004)
The Crying Room (Warners/Blu Orchard 2006)
Songs of Praise (Moochin’about/PIAS 2019)
Death of a Society Girl (Moochin’about/PIAS 2024)
