My friends, it is here. After what feels like forever, Blake Lewis has finally unleashed on the world in full HQ length his new dance-electro single "Sad Song", from the upcoming album, Heartbreak on Vinyl. The album is the followup to his ridiculously amazing (and criminally underrated) debut, A.D.D. (Audio Day Dream).
I can't even begin to tell you how long I've been waiting to hear new material from Blake. While I was more a fan of the other half of the fan-worshipped Bliss/Cake (that would be Chris Richardson for those of you who aren't creepy like me) during his tenure on 'Idol', I will admit to being won over by his covers of "Virtual Insanity", "Time of the Season," and "You Give Love A Bad Name". Then A.D.D. came out and I was awestruck by its sheer brilliance. It's one of the few albums that have come out in recent years where you can literally listen to the whole thing all the way through with no skips no matter what mood you're in.
"Sad Song" continues Blake's new progression into more of an electro-ish mode. He dabbled with it on A.D.D., but his true transition seemed to be his cover of Flock of Seagulls' 80's hit "I Ran (So Far Away)" with Darude ("Sandstorm", anyone?). It's not earthshattering, but it's certainly danceable and fun to bop along to, and helps solidify Blake's street cred in the dance community. Honestly, it sounds very 80's (in a good way) that makes it almost seem like it was from that time and was shelved until 2009.
Blake has never really been one to conform to the 'Idol' norms, and one of the reasons why A.D.D. was judged as such a sales failure was because it was difficult to market it in a 'Idol' cash cow way. Hence the fact that the most upbeat, mainstream pop sounding song on the whole record was released as the first (and only backed) single ("Break Anotha"), which I always felt was really the weakest track on the whole album. I fear Mr. Adam Lambert could have a similar fate, but then again, I always kind of felt he was a poor man's Blake anyhow. Either way, I'm glad that Blake has forged ahead with his sophomore release (due out in October, last I heard) now sans the 'American Idol' major label backing. Because, at the end of the day, it's his core fanbase alone who he ever really wanted to please, and he is certainly doing just that.
"Sad Song" clinches the fact that Blake was (and probably always will be) the most original artist to ever come out of "American Idol", and I'm proud to say I've supported him since then.
I can't even begin to tell you how long I've been waiting to hear new material from Blake. While I was more a fan of the other half of the fan-worshipped Bliss/Cake (that would be Chris Richardson for those of you who aren't creepy like me) during his tenure on 'Idol', I will admit to being won over by his covers of "Virtual Insanity", "Time of the Season," and "You Give Love A Bad Name". Then A.D.D. came out and I was awestruck by its sheer brilliance. It's one of the few albums that have come out in recent years where you can literally listen to the whole thing all the way through with no skips no matter what mood you're in.
"Sad Song" continues Blake's new progression into more of an electro-ish mode. He dabbled with it on A.D.D., but his true transition seemed to be his cover of Flock of Seagulls' 80's hit "I Ran (So Far Away)" with Darude ("Sandstorm", anyone?). It's not earthshattering, but it's certainly danceable and fun to bop along to, and helps solidify Blake's street cred in the dance community. Honestly, it sounds very 80's (in a good way) that makes it almost seem like it was from that time and was shelved until 2009.
Blake has never really been one to conform to the 'Idol' norms, and one of the reasons why A.D.D. was judged as such a sales failure was because it was difficult to market it in a 'Idol' cash cow way. Hence the fact that the most upbeat, mainstream pop sounding song on the whole record was released as the first (and only backed) single ("Break Anotha"), which I always felt was really the weakest track on the whole album. I fear Mr. Adam Lambert could have a similar fate, but then again, I always kind of felt he was a poor man's Blake anyhow. Either way, I'm glad that Blake has forged ahead with his sophomore release (due out in October, last I heard) now sans the 'American Idol' major label backing. Because, at the end of the day, it's his core fanbase alone who he ever really wanted to please, and he is certainly doing just that.
"Sad Song" clinches the fact that Blake was (and probably always will be) the most original artist to ever come out of "American Idol", and I'm proud to say I've supported him since then.
1 comment:
excellent points, well made. i entirely agree :)
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