Single Review: You Don’t Decide

Hailing from Queenstown, soulful pop artist Blake’s new single You Don’t Decide is a breath of fresh air amongst today’s highly produced and often overly busy commercial material. Yet another splendid product of Covid lockdowns, it’s a whispered discovery of self-assertion, which reaches to the depths of human experience and compacts its realisations in a beautiful yet clearly comprehensible way.

You Don’t Decide draws listeners in with Blake’s careful storytelling and a production focus on how percussion can smoothly build and change dynamics. Gentle, understated verses butterfly into wide open choruses. But the song’s finale is surprisingly muted, softening into a lo-fi style performance which reiterates the power of Blake’s message not to take mistreatment and toxic behaviour from others. The influence of similarly moody pop artists, such as Holly Humberstone and Claire Rosinkranz, shines through in the steady hum of guitar beneath Blake’s honest vocal delivery and direct lyricism. 

A first listen to this track may make it appear unassuming, but its surprisingly sticky chorus and dreamy alt-pop production will undoubtedly have you coming back for more. This is a gorgeous release that solidifies Blake’s presence as one to watch.