Perry Blake - Death of a Society Girl feat. Paul McGann (Dr. Who, Withnail and I)
Irish-born singer-songwriter Perry Blake has announced his new album 'Death of a Society Girl'. Marking 20 years as a recording artist, it will be released on June 21 via Moochin' About Records. Known for his delicate, downtempo and beautifully melancholic output and uniquely soothing timbre, this is Blake's first album in three years, following the critically acclaimed ‘Songs of Praise’ (5 Star MOJO).
Ahead of the release of this beautiful dark cinematic classic, he presents the epic title track 'Death of a Society Girl', featuring world-renowned British actor Paul McGann (Dr. Who, Withnail and I). Named Music Week's single of the week, it was released along with two remixes of the track by UK artists KosmetiQ and Inertia.
Co-written and co-produced with long-term collaborator Graham Murphy (Clannad, Sharon Shannon, Marie Brennan), the new album features nine compositions with Blake's hallmark surrealist lyrics and original artwork by Syrian-born artist Helen Abbas. 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 - finding Perry at the height of his powers.
Born in Ireland's Sligo county, Perry Blake has been dubbed one of music’s great untapped resources. Having released his debut album ‘Perry Blake’ on Polydor UK in 1998, including three singles chosen as 'Singles of the Week' on Jo Wiley BBC Radio 1, Blake moved to France. There, he achieved cult status across Europe since then, 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’ (2004) for French art-house director Sebastien Lifshitz’s hugely acclaimed film of the same name) and 'Trois Petites Filles' (2004).
Apart from writing two songs for Françoise Hardy’s platinum selling album 'Tant de belles choses’, he has appeared regularly on French TV and toured Europe with Carla Bruni, as well as with the French National Jazz Orchestra.
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.
Over the years, his musical endeavours has led him to collaborate with numerous musical luminaries, including Steve Jansen (Japan, Rain Tree Crow), Toby Pitman (Paul McCartney, George Michael, David Arnold, Clint Mansell, Shirley Bassey), 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 has published the children's book 'Gatos em Lissadell' in Portugal, as part of a collection by 12 authors, including former U.S president Jimmy Carter, Actors Will Smith and Julie Andrews. Blake also has a separate collaborative music project with Glenn Garrett and Graham Murphy, called Electro Sensitive Behaviour.
The title track 'Death of a Society Girl' ft. is out now. As of June 21, 'Death of a Society Girl' will be released on CD and available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, where it is now available for pre-order.
