Three years after forming, with plenty of road miles and a string of singles already under their belt, Stockport’s Blossoms have finally released their self-titled debut. And it’s worth the wait. Its mature, accomplished and confident sound, combined with a now polished live show, more than justifies the indie-rockers’ ones to watch tag.
James Skelly, frontman of the Coral, and Rich Turvey were tasked with producing the LP and helping to further finesse the raw materials that made Blossoms the name on many an indie fan’s lips in recent months. It’s been a long road to this point and Tom Ogden, the band’s vocalist, is glad that the fruits of their labour are about to hit home.
“After seeing life-sized billboards of yourself, it actually does feel real now,” he said. “It’s an exciting feeling knowing the fans will get to hear it. The whole process was one of the most enjoyable things we've done as a band. Working alongside James Skelly and Rich Turvey was great for us and has helped make us the band we are today.
"Some of the songs on the album were recorded back in August 2014 and the latest recorded in January, so yeah, it does feel a long time coming. We never wanted to rush it. We wanted to release our debut when it'd have the biggest impact possible.”
Blossoms are all about the big impact. Ambition is not in short supply in these parts, as shown by the swagger of their indie-disco-ready single Charlemagne and recent release Honey Sweet, both of which picked up an abundance of radio play. Expect more just like them on the album.
“I'd say they’re a good indication of the sound, yes,” Ogden said. “Charlemagne was definitely a breakthrough song in terms of writing and sonically. Honey Sweet was a song that came off the back of writing Charlemagne and there's a couple more which came with that too. We were finding ourselves in a more synth/guitar space which is where we feel most comfortable and at our best.”
Alongside the release, there’s the inevitable touring and album launch shows. With theirs, Blossoms kept things grounded with a homecoming show at the Plaza in Stockport, along with a newly announced tour that kicks off in Birmingham in September following a busy festival season.
“At the hometown show in Stockport, we played the Plaza, a beautiful old-fashioned theatre,” Ogden said. “We played the album in track order the minute the album became available, I'd say that was pretty special. We love touring, we've done it non-stop for the last three years really so it's where we feel most at home. We can't wait for the shows now the album’s out, everyone can learn the songs and sing them back to you. I think it's very important for bands to get out there during festival season. It's the best opportunity to pick up new fans who may never have heard you.”
A number of people, meanwhile, might have stumbled across the band for the first time when their Twitter spat with Sleaford Mods was hoovered up by the press. “It's all a bit of fun and games with stuff like that,” Ogden said. “We wasn't gonna sit back and just take it off someone, especially from them. We all had a laugh together coming up with the responses.”
At the end of 2015, Blossoms came fourth in the BBC’s Sound of... poll. It was a list light on guitar bands, reigniting a regular debate, but not one that they’re fussed on becoming trapped by.
“We don't really focus on the things people label you with,” Ogden said. “We focus on writing good songs. But if people want to label us with that then we feel like we have the songs to back it up. We never set out to specifically fly the flag for guitar music, there's plenty of great guitar bands out there yet to be discovered. So if we can shine a light on some of them when we can then we're more than happy to do so.”
Blossoms Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sun August 07 2016 - MANCHESTER Manchester Gorilla
Thu August 11 2016 - KINGSTON UPON THAMES Hippodrome
Fri September 23 2016 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Sat September 24 2016 - BRISTOL Bierkeller
Mon September 26 2016 - CAMBRIDGE Junction
Tue September 27 2016 - NORWICH UEA Waterfront
Thu September 29 2016 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Fri September 30 2016 - MANCHESTER Academy
Sat October 01 2016 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Mon October 03 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Riverside
Tue October 04 2016 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Wed October 05 2016 - LEEDS Leeds Met University
Fri October 07 2016 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Wed October 26 2016 - CAMBRIDGE Cambridge Junction
Thu October 27 2016 - NORWICH Waterfront Norwich
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