The Midnight Ache is a staggeringly beautiful and perfectly formed piece of alternative folk with a lo-fi heart and touches of modest grandeur delivered by an artist with a voice that could break a heart in two and songs that could heal the most weary of souls. Known for being one of Ireland’s most creative and independent artists, John Blek brings us another beautiful record of 11 new songs. This time around, John has taken his DIY spirit one step further. Not only did he self-record and produce the majority of the album, he went so far as to build the recording studio with his own bare hands. A labour of love, but labour all the same.
April 2024, Blek finished building his new creative home, Bigger River Recording Co., and set about working on what would become The Midnight Ache. Echos of Sea Change era Beck and Sparklehorse give this record a lo-fi intimacy, while the string arrangements balance the sound with an element of grandeur and sophistication. Home is very much at the heart of this new album; it features vocal performances by John’s wife and even the cover is adorned with pressed flowers from their garden. Additional production and mixing was done by regular collaborator Brian Casey at Wavefield Recordings.
“This album took me by surprise. I was slowly writing and using the songs to try to get to know the new studio space. Sonically feeling my way around and seeing what I could achieve when all of a sudden I realised I was looking at a new record.”
The Midnight Ache will be released on the 16th of January on John’s own label, Bigger River Recording Co.
Blek is an artist with a story to tell. With his timeless, emotive voice and layered fingerstyle guitar, you will be transported from scene to scene as his expansive songbook unfolds.
John Blek is Cork City born and bred, currently residing only a mile or two from his childhood home but listening to his music, you can hear the influence of travel and experience. His parents, both of whom were primary school teachers, had to bribe him to stay in school after his 16th birthday with the promise of a new guitar on the completion of his final exams. Such was John’s belief in his ability and chosen path in life that he was willing to forgo the more traditional education sought by his peers. This conviction carries through to his art. His music is written from such a personal place that it creates the sense that he grew up with these songs, that they are in his blood – and in a way, he did, they are his thoughts, his words, his sounds and his stories. Though not all autobiographical, like many of the great painters, an element of the artist exists in every portrait.
While Blek is a solo artist, he regularly collaborates, and indeed will write new music with collaborators in mind. As a result, it never feels like another artist is merely gate-crashing his music; instead, it works as a beautiful, harmonious meeting of artists who understand each other. Recent collaborations include Kris Drever & Kit Downes who both join John on his album “On Ether & Air”, Joan Shelley who embodies Laura, one of the characters in Blek’s duet “The Body”, Nathan Salsburg of the Alan Lomax Archive who, with John is currently investigating lesser known folk songs that traveled from Ireland to America in the mid 1800s with the support and funding of the `Arts Council of Ireland and fellow Corkonian Mick Flannery who duets with him on Revived a single from the 2020 album “The Embers”.
