After
Il Divo and
G4 came the foursome known as
Blake, a classical crossover act singing and harmonizing on pop songs ranging from "Moon River," "God Only Knows," and "I Knew I Loved You" to pseudo-religious classics "Hallelujah," "Jerusalem," and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" to film themes "1492 Conquest of Paradise" and "In Paradisium," from Gladiator. Two classic pop songs
Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You" and
Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" got the foreign language treatment as "Yo Te Voy a Amar" and "Togliami Il Respiro," respectively, but you would be hard pushed to recognize the originals, which were in there somewhere underneath the slick production. These four young men,
Stephen Bowman,
Jules Knight,
Dominic Tighe, and
Oliver Baines were all classically trained but got together via Facebook and also attracted a manager, Daniel Glatman, via the site. He had worked with the
Fron Male Voice Choir turning two of their albums into hits and secured
Blake a deal with Universal Classics. Their self-titled debut was the sort of relaxing album one could put on after a hard day at the office or to have coffee at lunchtime in a bar, but it's far too slow and downbeat for retailers who want to give their customers a sense of fun. By the time the final track "In the Bleak Midwinter" rolls around, you would undoubtedly have either totally relaxed your cares away or fallen asleep. ~ Sharon Mawer