Hailing from Queenstown, soulful pop artist Blake’s new single You Don’t Decide is a breath of fresh air amongst today’s highly produced and often overly busy commercial material. Yet another splendid product of Covid lockdowns, it’s a whispered discovery of self-assertion, which reaches to the depths of human experience and compacts its realisations in a beautiful yet clearly comprehensible way.
You Don’t Decide draws listeners in with Blake’s careful storytelling and a production focus on how percussion can smoothly build and change dynamics. Gentle, understated verses butterfly into wide open choruses. But the song’s finale is surprisingly muted, softening into a lo-fi style performance which reiterates the power of Blake’s message not to take mistreatment and toxic behaviour from others. The influence of similarly moody pop artists, such as Holly Humberstone and Claire Rosinkranz, shines through in the steady hum of guitar beneath Blake’s honest vocal delivery and direct lyricism.
A first listen to this track may make it appear unassuming, but its surprisingly sticky chorus and dreamy alt-pop production will undoubtedly have you coming back for more. This is a gorgeous release that solidifies Blake’s presence as one to watch.
Hailing from Queenstown New Zealand, Blake spent the past five years in the UK honing her craft and immersing herself in the rich London Neo-Soul and Jazz scene. During her time in London, she was sought out by some of the UK’s top drum and bass producers to write and record vocals in the genre. She was nominated for 'Best Vocalist' at the 2017 Drum and Bass awards and has over 5 million streams on Spotify on her feature tracks, with releases across Hospital Records and Shogun Audio.
Her approach and philosophy in music is centred around authentic songwriting, re-telling personal experiences in metaphorically unique and interesting ways, taking influence from artists such as Jordan Rakei, Amy Winehouse and Julia Michaels. She released her debut EP Home Truth in 2019, which Clash branded as "meaningful pop with subtle soul and jazz influences". Blake is now working with some of New Zealand’s top emerging producers to complete her second EP project, blending her past and present musical influences of soul, electronic and pop music to generate something fresh and unique.