Psychedelic indie band Blossoms have flourished on the music scene, going from a small support act for The Courteeners in 2015 to a recent spot supporting The Stone Roses, a UK tour and millions of listens on Spotify.
Their debut self-titled album has proved extremely popular: it’s recently reached Number One on the UK album charts. Blossoms exhibits the band’s ability to use all sorts of styles, be it cool, dark, flowery, seductive or romantic. Though they resonate with bands such as New Order and Two Door Cinema Club, it’s no exaggeration to say that Blossoms bring something fresh to indie music.
“‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Getaway’ and ‘Honey Sweet’ don’t display as much charisma as ‘Charlemagne’ puts forth”
The 12 song album starts with ‘Charlemagne’, an addictive, twinkling track with catching vocals and a yo-yo rhythm; a great starting track. The next three tracks, ‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Getaway’ and ‘Honey Sweet’ use retro sounding, pop-synth rhythms but don’t display as much charisma as ‘Charlemagne’ puts forth.
‘Texia’ is a noteworthy track, a mix of ‘Cut Me And I’ll Bleed’ and ‘Smoke’ from their Blown Rose EP. This song displays Blossoms’ trademark 80s-meets-modern indie style of jangling guitar and psychedelic techno noises, deep bass rhythms, dreamy vocals and memorable lyrics.
“Blossoms leaves a lot to be desired…”
Yet this trademark sound seems hard to maintain, at least in the first half of the album. ‘Blown Rose’ sounds like it should be a highlight of the album but in actuality it pales in contrast to the likes of ‘Blow’. There is something in its optimistic, euphoric sound and its odd lyrics such as ‘stately homes of England, how beautiful they are’ that makes you want to skip it after a few whole album listens.
‘Smashed Pianos’ is a trippy, dreamy yet lacklustre track, followed by single, ’Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’. It’s tracks like this one that make the album worthwhile, as the rest of Blossoms leaves a lot to be desired. ‘Onto Her Bed’, ‘Getaway’ ‘Smashed Pianos’ and ‘My Favourite Room’, for example, are hardly distinguishable.
‘Blow’ is another single that gives Blossoms an edge. It’s a song full of attitude with a steady tempo, a mix of deep and high-pitched guitar riffs, an enticing guitar solo and superb vocals.
“The new songs don’t seem like much of a treat…”
The album is concluded by ‘Deep Grass’, another techno track with a tropical hint. Honestly, ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, ‘Blow’ ‘Charlemagne’ and possibly ‘Honey Sweet’ are the only memorable songs from this album. The rest feels fairly unremarkable, but worth a listen.
As a whole, the album isn’t disappointing. However, the best tracks had been released before Blossoms, so the new songs don’t seem like much of a treat for those who’ve been following Blossoms from the start.
Emily Geyerhosz
Emily is listening to ‘MOVE’ by RATBOY
