CD: Blossoms - Blossoms | reviews, news & interviews
CD: Blossoms - Blossoms
CD: Blossoms - Blossoms
Mainstream indie-pop that's bound to make waves
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Blossoms' eponymous album: a beautiful journey
If you’re still searching for a summer soundtrack, look no further. Blossoms will make you want to immediately take a road trip around Devon, cruising at sunset, musing over easygoing lyrics and having a bit of a hum while appreciating a good strum.
The synth-heavy "Charlemagne" drags you immediately into a beautiful journey, with a cruising rhythm and gratifying melody. It’s cheerful indie, with none of the tormented whinging we experienced the first time round in the 90s (and with some of the more recent "nu-retro" stuff). "At Most a Kiss" keeps the pace, driving and persistent before "Getaway" lifts you again into the tuneful story of doomed romance, with a catchy chorus of "I’m over you, you’re under me, this is the last time, don't say it's the last time… tonight we can get away”.
This band on the rise is more than a mere musical pastiche
There’s a little more of this touching soft rock sound in "Honey Sweet" (and "Deep Grass" with the memorably poetic lyric, "Let’s fly back to the sound of rain that you love"). It’s the sort of music that encourages you to hold hands and run heedless in the direction of the wind, perfect for a Magisto video edit.
Blossoms' eponymous album has a strong indie-pop undertow with some unmistakably Suede-like qualities, and it’s easy to draw myriad musical comparisons such as Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys and Richard Ashcroft. But this band on the rise is more than a mere musical pastiche.
Alongside frontman Tom Ogden, Charlie Salt (bass, backing vocals), Josh Dewhurst (lead guitar), Joe Donovan (drums) and Myles Kellock (keyboards) form a unified front and their slickly managed sound is sure to please the masses. A commercial edge to their sound will undoubtedly lead to big hits for these Stockport boys but there are some real gems in this album. "Blown Rose" is a beautiful love song that serenades us about “the stately homes of England” and "Smashed Pianos" prove their poetic kudos as well as their musical prowess.
It’s cheerful indie, with none of the tormented whinging we experienced the first time round in the 90s
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