Perry Blake (born May 10, 1970) is an Irish singer and songwriter from Sligo, known for the delicate, downtempo, melancholic style of his songs and his soft singing voice.
His 1998 self-titled debut album was very 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,[1] while his third album, California, was co-produced with Italian composer Marco Sabiu and featured Dickon Hinchliffe of Tindersticks.[2][3]
Blake is very popular in France,[4] where his music was used for the soundtracks of the films Presque rien (2000) and Trois Petites Filles (2004).[5]
His musical influences include Leonard Cohen, David Sylvian, Scott Walker, and Nick Drake.[4] He has collaborated with Françoise Hardy and wrote 2 songs for her award winning Tant de belles choses album. He's also worked with Émilie Simon and Nancy Danino.
Perry Blake is currently recording an electronic Pop album with a new Pop group called Grace Parks with long time collaborators Glenn Garrett & Graham Murphy, whom he has collaborated with since his first album. A single is scheduled for release early next year when Grace Parks will embark on a European tour.
Meanwhile, a Perry Blake European tour is also in pre-production for 2012 featuring a 5 piece band that recreates much of his back catalogue. It's a bigger sound than Blake has employed recently, using multimedia & string arrangements by Graham Murphy. A live album, Forgiveness, from this tour will be released later next year.