:: Blake - And So It Goes

Blake

Exactly how do you review a four-piece, ex-choir boy band singing somebody else's hits? Likened to the fresh and distinct harmonies of the Beach Boys, but a touch more operatic, British band Blake is the latest addition to the pop-opera craze. Riding on the success of Il Divo , Andrea Bocelli and other bringing-opera-to-the-masses bands, Blake is nothing to mock. No matter how funny their rendition of Snow Patrol's “Chasing Cars” is. Since meeting on Facebook in 2007, these boys have experienced some serious success. Their self titled debut album shot to Number One in the UK classical album chart. The boy's soaring harmonies, youthful energy and talent for mixing pop and opera also earned them fans in Kiera Knightly, Will Smith and Hans Zimmer, who asked them to sing on the soundtrack of the new film Angels and Demons. Blake even sang at this year's Melbourne Cup. With such rousing success, Blake's new album And So It Goes was highly anticipated by fans and critics alike. This time around Blake has chosen a whole new list of classic and popular songs and added their own polished-choir touch. Probably the most recognisable track on the album is “Chasing Cars”. A massive hit for Snow Patrol, this song sung in the sweet-dulcet tones of four boys under the age of 25 and accompanied by a full orchestra is honestly unnerving. The original track was so gritty, lead singer Gary Lightbody's vocals were so deep you could feel the pain in his voice and everybody understood the sadness in the lyrics. Unfortunately, Blake's version really doesn't convey any of the original song's emotion.

Luckily, “Time to Say Goodbye” fares much better. A track much more suited to the band's classically trained voices, “Time to Say Goodbye” is Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli's half-Italian, half-English masterpiece and the boys handle it masterfully. A romantic and operatic track, it really shows off their incredible talent and operatic voices, especially in the final crescendo. Sung in soaring harmonies with the charm and charisma these boys are famous for, their version is almost as good as the original. And then there's Meatloaf's “Heaven Can Wait”. Much like “Chasing Cars” there is little to say about Blake's rendition. After all, it's difficult to take a classic, make it your own and expect people to love it. But Blake really do make a commendable effort with this track. The orchestra provide great backup and the boys produce enough soft harmonies to do the song justice. In the end, much of And So It Goes is just that. Doing classic opera and pop songs justice. Sometimes Blake does a good job at reproducing the songs and sometimes they don't. But where they fail to recreate a hit, they always manage to infuse it with their own unique flavour. For those who love opera singers singing pop, And So It Goes is the perfect feel-good album with all those songs your mother probably knows and loves.