BLOSSOMS BAND (Debut album and Cool Like You Review)

Apart from Frank Ocean, during lockdown I discovered Blossoms . The English band from Stockport was formed back in 2013, but gained relevance with their debut single, Charlemagne. With it,  they stated the synths' predominance that will remain in their songs and was in their first single, You Pulled A Gun On Me  . Tom Ogden's vocals and his special way of writing love stories made the rest and drove to the band earning a nomination for the BRITS awards .

First singles (You pulled A Gun On Me, Cut Me And I'll Bleed, The Urge and Blow) have Tom Ogden singing roughly, with great chorus to sing along and much rawer guitars than later on the band music. . In Winter Kiss they demonstrate they can do great slow-tempo songs , sounding soft-pop, with an acoustic guitar base, which could have served for a country song.

Some of these songs were included in their debut-self titled album (2016). Alongside with a half of new tracks. Throughout the album Tom sings about love in different perspectives from the incomprehension of a missing love (in the brilliant Blown Rose) after a hurried lover escape (At Most a Kiss: ' I thought I was your boy', 'Is it on?'), a can't-be-forgotten love, a lovet that is not over yet in the 80's vibes and full of teenage spirit Getaway:(I'll always hold someplace for you/ I'm over you, get under me /This is the last time/ don't say it's the last time).

 The album also includes one of their anthems , Honey Sweet , which they performed in Later..With Jools Holland entering in that selected club of artists that have performed there.

In Texia Tom says ' I'm running out of the dark with you' and this is a topic (love or a lover who lights up the dark) that will be also treated in other albums as in The Keeper off their 2020 album, Foolish Loving Spaces . 

Blossoms homonymous album is a great debut. The synth mixes perfectly with bass creating a pop-rock atmosphere. 80s vibes are appreciated but they do not interrupt the band's unique sound with Tom's vocals. 

After touring and playing in  2017's Glastonbury and Coachella, in 2018 they released their second album (Cool Like You),  their most synth-pop  record yet .It opens with the powerful and euphoric synth There's A Reason Why (I never Return Your Calls). The beggining of the piece...it just drives you to jump!Perfect for festivals, Tom wonders if his lover is still thinking of him and describes the feelings when you meet again your ex ('There's something only we see). 

How Long Will This Last? is just what is reflected on the music video, with 80s vibes and prom nostalgia, Tom describes ,tire, an on-and-off relationship .

The addictive synths with 80s percussions continue throughout all the record . The joyful keyboards contrasts with melancholic and nostalgic sound that invades it, probably to be in accordance to the lyrics ('fatal' on Unfaithful or 'People like you always want back/ What you gave them when it's through').

The record gets darkest and more reflective in Between The Eyes or in Stranger Still with Tom hurt by love , waiting to heal while screaming a desperate shout ('Say you want me to save you') .

On this album, there is space to the darkness topic!... I said it was frecquent on Tom Ogden . In I Just Imagined You Tom sings 'In the darkness on my birthday I heard you close the door' , which seems to connect to the idea that her lover brings light into his life.

In Giving Up the Ghost the synths try successfully to draw crazyness and fear of Tom remembering a past relationship.

Lying Again combines synths with the most rock beat on the record . Once time the strong drums fit perfect with Tom vocals.

The last track of the album is Love Talk, a tender , inocence and sicere love song about a long-distance relationship.

Cool like You is a complete masterpiece of synth-pop without losing the band's touch. Influenced by 80s sound , and invaded by some nostalgia and melancholy , the band talks about love and feelings that come with it.

They have even made their own 'The sound' ( The 1975 song) with the addictive There's A Reason Why (I Never return Your Calls) 

In a few years the band has managed to progress while not losing its essence. For me, Blossoms is the perfect pop-rock band  and its music is ideal to be played on the radio. It is the band that the world needed in the 2010s.

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You can find Blossoms' songs on my  Spotify playlists Á.T.M and POP REVOLUTION.

I'll be back with their last album, Foolish Loving Spaces , review.