CHEER UP IS THE DEEPLY PERSONAL AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN NEW LONG PLAYER FROM IRELAND’S BEST KEPT SONGWRITING SECRET JOHN BLEK.

With no sign of letting up the ever prolific and masterful John Blek brings us his ninth studio album. Cheer Up is a powerful reflection on the singer/songwriter’s life. Lyrically demonstrating his personal growth while sonically showing his musical evolution. To some this may seem like a stylistic departure to others it’s the natural next step. 

Blek says “This is a very important record to me. It’s the first of mine that is entirely autobiographical from start to finish. Also in the past I have tried to be quite restrained when it came to the production of my songs but this time around I wanted to adopt a more is more approach. Allowing each song to dictate its own natural path and taking it as far as I could with the resources available to me.”

The album features performances from Dutch three piece harmony group Woolf and the Dresden based Broken Strings. It was recorded at Wavefield Recordings, Clonakilty, Co. Cork and was co-produced with John’s regular collaborator Brian Casey.

“Part of the joy of what I do is getting to meet other artists. I played some shows with Woolf in the Netherlands and we immediately clicked. The first time I heard them sing together I knew I wanted to work with them and to hear their voices add a new depth to my own songs. It was the same with Moritz Brümmer and Filip Sommer (The Broken Strings) who I met on an artist in residence programme in Dresden back in 2022.”

Cheer Up will be released on the 6th of September on John’s own label Bigger River Recording Co. John will be performing songs from his new record along with others from his extensive back catalogue.