By Scott McCabe
The British 5 piece from Stockport have released their 3rd studio album titled ‘Foolish loving spaces’, the album consists of 10 fresh melodies for fans to relish. ‘Tom Ogden’ lead singer described songs on the album as “old school”, and admitted that some inspiration from the album had come from the music of ‘U2’ and ‘Talking Heads’.
‘Foolish loving Spaces’ is built heavily off the topic of love and romance. With singles like [The Keeper, My Swimming Brain, Romance, Eh?] all incorporating this theme of love and relationships. However, the deep emotional and personal connection that the band have conveyed in their music separates it from your average album. For instance, the hit single ‘Your Girlfriend ‘ has an interesting origin ; the inspiration came from a message board when Ogden was scrolling through the internet, one user expressed his feelings for his best friends girlfriend and how he was in a tough situation , Ogden decided to run with the idea and lyrics such as “I know I shouldn’t but I’d like to spend more time with her“, convey this sense of conflicting emotions. The bands core is built off realism and authenticity with ‘Charlie Salt’ [guitarist] explaining in an interview with ‘Faceculture’ that ‘Falling For Someone’ “strikes a chord” with him personally.
The band have stayed true to their roots with catchy guitar rifts being incorporated in the album, but they’ve also experimented on a few songs and provided fans wtih a variety of different styles; ‘My Vacant Days‘ for example, brings something different to the album, ‘Salt’ strikes the same four chords throughout the song and with ‘Ogdens’ lyrics its just one of those songs you cant get enough of, the simplicity is unmatched compared to their previous releases. For ‘Blossoms’ to do such a simplistic song it was certainly out for their comfort zone with ‘Ogden’ even revealing that “bass has always been a prominent part of their music”. ‘The Keeper’ brings us back to the old school ‘Blossoms’ with hints of soul, a piano intro, prominent bass and catchy lyrics all being incorporated. ‘Blossoms’ stayed true to their roots while also experimenting with different styles, it’s no wonder why the song has been a hit amongst fans.
‘Blossoms’ have already accumulated widespread accolades including ‘Brit award’ nominees, Winning ‘best indie’ at the global awards and averaging 1.8 million monthly listeners on ‘Spotify’, their hit single in 2016 Charlemagne raking in 46 million downloads, but the group have struggled to break into the charts. BBC journalist ‘Mark Savage’ picked up on this and even wrote an article surrounding the band with the headline “Blossoms are making hit singles but the charts haven’t noticed”. ‘Joe Donavan’ [drummer] is aware of the bands current position and stated that “bands just aren’t a thing”, but it didn’t seem to bother ‘Donavan’ or the band members “We have never had a discussion about a single going into the top 40 its not even on the radar.”
The album went down a treat with critics ‘Spill magazine’ describing the album as “slick, commercial and destined for success”. Meanwhile, ‘Clash Music‘ labelled it as “glorious, ambitious and fulfilling.”
Overall, ‘Blossoms‘ were experimental with ‘Foolish Loving Spaces‘. Whilst some fans may prefer the old releases of ‘Blossoms‘, they should be relishing in this current situation and with more hit songs on the way including a collaboration with ‘The Killers‘ the sky seems to be the limit for this youthful and exuberant band.
ScottMcCabe2020 