After two years of radio silence, Alek Blak has released a new single, Luna
Singer/songwriter Alek Blak is back with a new song after a two-year break. His previous song, New Day, was released in 2017, to much acclaim. His fans have been waiting eagery for new material – and haven’t been disappointed.
Luna, a mellow, nostalgic torch song, is about a break-up, but is neither bitter nor confrontational – just sad. It has none of the bravado some musicians try to portray after a painful split. Instead, it’s a tender offering that acknowledges the complicated stages of grief following the end of a relationship.
“It tells the story of a relationship that’s going well – where no-one’s cheated or been deceitful, but there’s a strong sense of ‘I don’t think I belong here any more’. The song explores that feeling and how it leads to separation,” explains Blak.
“I wanted to capture the feelings of defeat, exhaustion, tiredness, fear and doubt that come with a break-up,” he adds – and he has.
The journalist-turned-muso is one of the few artists who still write their own music. Usually, Blak writes his songs using an acoustic guitar. Luna, however, is the product of an international collaboration.
“This time it was different because I already had productions ready from a guy called Thomas Hadek from Germany. He’s brilliant, and I wrote Luna straight from the production in one go,” he says.
Unlike his voice, life hasn’t been so smooth for Blak. The initial plan was to release an EP after the release of New Day, but that idea had to be put on hold. “I went through a retrenchment process with a publishing company I was working for at the time, so I spent most of my energy regaining momentum in my journalism career,” he explains. A stint building a fitness and wellness programme was followed by four months of unemployment as he worked to find his passion again.
Surviving as an independent artist can be difficult, with plans falling through and things taking a long time to materialise because of the cost factor.
“Productions are expensive, studio time is expensive, mixing and mastering is expensive, artwork design is expensive, releasing music is expensive – and all these costs are carried by you,” says Blak – yet he wouldn’t have it any other way. “There’s a power in knowing that you’re the owner of your work,” he adds.
The plan now is to release an EP next March/April, with Luna as a prelude to whet listeners’ appetite.
“I released it now to remind everyone that I’m still around and still singing,” he says.
