Already firmly established at indie’s top table, Blossoms’ fourth album ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’ is their defining statement.
Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett.
“About time!” laughs drummer Joe Donovan as he learns that Blossoms are to appear on the cover of Dork for the very first time. So, how do we begin marking this momentous occasion? Well, of course it’s with a detailed discussion about the prime sogginess of bread for your beans and toast. “I’m quite an avid beans and toast fan,” says singer Tom Ogden as he explains his breakfast on the day the band had their photoshoot for this very cover. “I’d have the toast around the outside and the beans in the middle, slowly getting the ends of the toast soggy. I don’t mind a bit of that because when you get a really crunchy bit, it makes the whole thing better, but I don’t like it sodden.” Very wise words there from the singer, however Joe has a different, more maverick opinion. “Here’s a controversial one. I don’t like beans,” he reveals. On the cover for the first time and already going in hard with the hot takes, it’s taken a few years but Blossoms’ ascent to pop legend cover status is worth the wait.
It’s been a steady rise for the Stockport five-piece since they released their self-titled debut album in 2016, marking them out as an indie band with something special about them. Sonically diverse and unafraid to take risks while firmly staying true to themselves, the band are now established as some of the finest songwriters in the land. They’re looking toward a future filled with promise, exemplified by their stunning fourth album ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” says Joe of the last six years. “With the lockdown, it’s the only time that we’ve had a bit of time to sit down and realise what we’ve done. You go into an album, and you’re constantly moving; this time, everything stopped to a standstill, and we’re reflecting back. We always said we wanted longevity. That was our biggest ambition as a band. We didn’t want to put an album out, have it do well and then just disappear and struggle afterwards. We always wanted to be on it and have that longevity as a band. We’ve always strived towards that.”
“We always said we wanted longevity. That was our biggest ambition as a band”
James Donovan
With longevity assured, you can begin to piece together and unravel the threads that make up the tapestry of Blossoms’ world and chart the evolution from effervescent upstarts to supremely assured songwriters. For singer Tom Ogden, the band’s journey can be split into two eras. “I see the first two albums together and the third and the fourth album together sonically,” he explains. “That represents the growth. Like Joe said, the lockdown gave us time to reflect and hit a little bit of a reset button. We still kept busy through it doing the lockdown covers, and I ended up writing another album, so it’s not like there was much time that passed.”
It’s striking how casually Tom drops in that he ended up just writing a whole album like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Perhaps, though, he finds writing songs and making albums as easy as making beans on toast. Songwriting is in his blood, central to his very being, and his songs and passion for words and melodies are the core of Blossoms’ DNA. “I’ve always written at home. When it was lockdown, it was like, well, this is where I always write songs, so I just cracked on with that,” he laughs. “The majority of the album was written during the lockdown,” he continues. “’Care For’ was the first song written for it. I wrote that just after I wrote ‘The Keeper’ on the last album. Those songs sit together because I wrote them quite close together. We’d already finished recording ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’, and ‘Care For’ was this other song I had sitting about.”
The grand swelling piano burnished epic of third album highlight ‘The Keeper’ is a central song in the Blossoms story and is one of those intriguing threads that leads you to something else. “That song is a bridge,” says Tom. “The last album and this one sit together. It makes sense because ‘The Keeper’ was the last song written for that album. You’re always evolving as a songwriter. The earlier stuff on the last album like ‘Your Girlfriend’ and ‘If You Think This Is Real Life’ are more together. They were a new thing I discovered as a songwriter with a Talking Heads influence, and then ‘The Keeper’ was a year after that but obviously still on the same record, and that set the tone for what would become this album. It makes perfect sense. You could put ‘The Keeper’ on this album, and it wouldn’t sound out of place.”
For the rest of the band, it was apparent that Tom was taking things to another level. “Tom’s songwriting has got broader,” says Joe. “At the beginning, you were just focusing on your life, but now you can branch out with songs like ‘Your Girlfriend’, for example, where you can write about other things.” “That’s not by choice necessarily,” responds the singer. “It’s more of a need or a must. In the early days, when you’re experiencing love and heartbreak for the first time, songs fall out of you. You’ll never get that time back again. You don’t realise until afterwards when your life’s quite in place, and you’re in a stable relationship; I’m married now! You’re not in the back of a tour bus experiencing these things for the very first time.”
Seeking new inspiration, Tom looked for different ways to express his feelings in his songs. “You’ve got to find different things to write about and challenge yourself because for me personally, no one wants to hear ‘Oh, yeah, I stayed in and did the washing, cooked tea for my wife’, that’s fucking boring,” he continues. “You need to challenge yourself, and that’s what I did with a song like ‘Your Girlfriend’ where I just had to make up an idea and was like, oh, what if someone’s in love with their friend’s girlfriend. That was a breakthrough for me as a songwriter to get me out of writing about myself. I felt like I needed to try to find things.
“With the lockdown songwriting, it was a bit more personal in terms of feeling a bit down and having a bit of imposter syndrome over the success we’ve had and the pressures of being a songwriter. This album was about achieving everything at such a young age and then going, where do I go now?”
‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’ is a more reflective, considered and emotionally rounded Blossoms, but it is still packed full of the playful, idiosyncratic and fanciful flourishes that make their songs so good. “It still sounds quite bright because a lot of our songwriting is quite upbeat,” explains Tom to dissuade any worries the band have embarked on an odyssey into the depths of darkness. “The lyrics on the last album are more playful and about falling in love and are a bit more tongue-in-cheek, whereas on this album, it’s a bit more serious, and I’m talking about things I’ve never talked about before. Lyrically it shows another side to us; it digs deeper in certain areas.” “You pushed yourself more, didn’t you?” asks Joe, before Tom continues: “I definitely had more time to keep writing and think no, we need one better, we need to refine things.”
Refined is a good way to describe the album as it sees the band lean into a kind of musical lushness and graceful beauty that lifts the songs to another place. For Tom, the vision for the album started to come together as soon as he wrote the first song. “I work quite closely with James Skelly from The Coral because he’s produced all of our albums, and he’s kind of a mentor for us. Because the other lads in the band don’t write songs, I don’t really have anyone else for advice. Early on, James heard ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’; I loved the title, and I already knew that was going to be the fourth album title,” he says. “I didn’t know anything of what the rest of it would be about. I do that quite a lot. I have all these song titles on my phone. It’s different for every song, but some days you’ll sit down at the piano and think, ‘there’s a reason why I never returned your calls’, and it’s just bang from the heart – right, yeah, it’s a great title it works.
“In the early days, when you’re experiencing love and heartbreak for the first time – songs fall out of you. You’ll never get that time back again. You don’t realise until afterwards”
Tom Ogden
“Sometimes, though, you’re not feeling dead inspired, and you want to just try something. So, you’ll have a little bit of a melody going and look for your song title and go ‘do do do do ribbon around the bomb’, and work backwards from that. What’s ribbon around the bomb? Alright, you’re covering something up; you’re hiding something. I liked the imagery of it. I sent it to James Skelly, and he said great title, and I was like, I want to call the album that. I had literally written one song at this point,” he laughs.
As he wrote more, Tom began to formulate the broader vision for the album, which illustrates the depth of Blossoms’ ambition. “I thought it should be like the soundtrack to a film,” he says. “We talked about it being a bit more cinematic. Strings came into the conversation quite early, which are all over the record and tie it together. James was very aware because he’s grown with us as a band and said, you need to do something different on your fourth album. You can’t just do the same. It’s not a concept album, but it’s a lot more thematic. There are a few key songs that bring it all together.”
The album became something of a meta-commentary on Tom’s life filtered through the prism of a writer documenting their life. “I had a song called ‘The Writer’, which was about me as a songwriter and how I felt about that,” he explains. “Another song called ‘The Sulking Poet’ is talking about being a writer as well. It started to play itself out as an album through these songs. Me and Skelly worked together and decided this is what it’s all about. It’s more serious and looking inwards. There’s a song called ‘Visions’ that has the lyric, ‘was I complete at 23?’ That was when I met Katie [Donovan, his wife] and just had a Number 1 album. I thought I had achieved everything. James said that’s what the album should be about. You’ve achieved everything at such a young age; where do you go now? I pieced the rest of the album around that.”
Some of the songs on the album, like ‘Visions’, are overtly personal. Like the gloriously fun ‘The Sulking Poet’, others see Tom gently poking fun at himself through an exaggerated character. A character that the deeply devoted Blossoms fans playfully dragged on the fan page that gave the song its title, proving that there is nobody on the planet better equipped to talk about pop music and lovingly drag their idols than the fans. “There was a Blossoms fan page on Instagram called Ode to Ogden, and the bio referred to me as the sulking poet because my face is sometimes quite frowny on photographs,” laughs Tom. “I thought fucking hell, that’s hilarious, but then I thought, what a great title. It’s also tongue-in-cheek because I’m obviously not calling myself a poet, but I thought it was quite funny.
“It’s not necessarily about me as such. Elements are, but it’s about someone trying to make it and reflecting. ‘I’m just trying to write some words through the bars of a rhyme this time’. ‘Through the bars of a rhyme’ is from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Dire Straits. I liked that line and crowbarred it in there. To me, the song has a bit of a Dire Straits vibe to it. So it’s a nod to that. I was pulling in all the influences. ‘Let’s have a toast to the sulking boy’. It only says boy because ‘let’s have a toast to the sulking poet’ doesn’t fit, and I couldn’t get the word in,” he laughs. “It’s kind of about me when I was younger and trying to make it writing songs, but then the Juliet thing was what this person’s idea of what a love song should say, and it’s kind of throwaway. ‘Ooh la la Juliet’, that’s the most basic love song you could write. It’s all very conscious of why it’s in there.”
Another key song on ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’ is ‘Care For’, the album’s heart-swelling grandiose centrepiece. In an age of cynicism, it could be considered a risk for Blossoms to release an unabashed, wholesome, heartfelt love song, but for Tom, it was a heart on your sleeve statement of intent. “’Care For’ is even more honest. If I truly believe in it, then I’ll put it out,” he says confidently. “If someone slags you off, you’ll think, at least I was honest. If you put out something that’s half-arsed or were coerced into a different idea, I might think, oh fucking hell, I shouldn’t have released that, but when I’ve come up with it, I’ll back it to the hilt. I don’t give a fuck what people say on that level. That comes with years of experience. If I tried to write a love song like that seven years ago, I might not have had the balls to put it out.”
Musically you can most clearly hear the album’s spirit in the glorious sweeping strings that give the song a timeless feel. It was the realisation of a long-time ambition for the band to fully explore the musical arrangements that their songs deserve. “We’ve always wanted real strings, but on your first album, it’s a bit too far to have strings, and we’ve never had the money to do it,” says Tom. “On our earlier song ‘Blown Rose’, strings would’ve been great, but we had synth strings on it. We’ve always wanted to do it. We’re big fans of songs with strings. It was Skelly really; he said on the last album you had gospel singing which tied it all together, so we need something on this album that ties the songs together. We said, let’s go for real strings. The songs seemed to lend themselves to it, so we just went for it. I love it.
“If someone slags you off, you’ll think, at least I was honest”
Tom Ogden
“The string intro to ‘Ode To NYC’, I had loads of fun writing that because you get the chance to feel like you’re soundtracking something for a film. Rosie Danvers did the strings. We wrote the strings on keyboards and sent it to her, and they did it in RAK studios. She’s done stuff for Kanye West and Noel Gallagher. She did ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ by Sophie Ellis Bextor. Her repertoire is amazing. She brought it to life.”
If it’s hard to visualise the impact of the strings on the record, then Tom has an even more simple answer that we can all relate to. “Rosie did all the bits that go ‘do do do do do dooo’ – all those fancy runs and stuff that make it sound like it’s done by proper musicians,” he laughs.
‘Care For’’s louche disco groove is redolent of a time of huge musical excess and ambition in the 70s, both in terms of sound and fashion. Blossoms are already a band much loved for their sense of style and pizzazz, and it’s a direction they’d be open to exploring further in the future. “We’ve got a few velour suits already,” laughs Tom. “I love all that music. I’d love to go further in that direction if we can, more disco.” For now, though, perhaps we can imagine Blossoms with an orchestra on stage soon? “Glastonbury would be nice. We don’t have the budget to do it everywhere; you can’t really do it at Rock City in Nottingham, can you? But the big ones, we’ll pull it out. I’d love to do that,” says Tom excitedly.
That’s the thing with Blossoms. They recognise the importance of always trying to create something special, of building a world beyond the music and that sits alongside their core albums. They’ve constantly been documenting their lives on tour and beyond through hours of filmed footage as well as their acclaimed podcast, and extra-musical undertakings like their isolation covers project and their recent shows playing Smiths covers with Rick Astley. All this helps forge a strong connection between the band and their devoted fans. “Since the pandemic, that’s reiterated the importance to us because you get set in your ways. When you get successful, it’s easy to take your foot off the gas, but you shouldn’t take it for granted because people appreciate a little reply or getting a photo after a gig,” says Tom. “We know where they come from, and we know how important it is to have that relationship with fans.”
For Joe, it gets to the very heart of why Blossoms are so special. “We’re fans of bands anyway. With a band like Arctic Monkeys, if they did stuff like that, we’d be like, that’s fucking mint,” says the drummer. “If we were a fan of Blossoms, what would we buzz off? That’s something we always try and do. The podcast is a good one because I’m really inspired by it. I listen to podcasts all the time. At the time, I couldn’t really think of any other band who were doing one that wasn’t just about music. Our podcast isn’t about our band, really. If we weren’t in a band, we could still do the podcast. Just chatting shit and eating pizza. It’s a cool thing. If a band that I love were doing it, then I’d love to listen to it. I like the idea that it shows a different side of the band.”
“If I tried to write a love song like ‘Care For’ seven years ago, I might not have had the balls to put it out”
Tom Ogden
The bond between the five band members is what has propelled them to such great heights. In Joe’s case, it goes beyond the music to something more fundamental. “You get people who love music and love tunes, but musically they’re not really into it. I’m a bit like that,” he says. “Charlie [Salt, bass] or Tom would always be doing something in music, while if I wasn’t in this band, then I wouldn’t want to be in a band. I like that we’re a gang and a group of mates. That’s a good side for us to show. We can always break down a demo or something, and I get why people find that interesting, but I’m not into that – I’d rather hear you talking about an argument with your missus.”
Six years into their success, there’s a sense that Blossoms haven’t reached anywhere near their peak, and the possibilities are endless. They already have a number of potential bangers in their back pocket strategically left off this album, ready to go. “I can see a bit of an album taking shape in the demos we’re writing now for the next one,” says Tom. “Some bands will break America; we haven’t touched the surface there. You don’t know what’s around the corner. I could write a fucking massive tune that goes massive there when we’re 40. Who knows? If you’re hungry and you want it, you can achieve anything.”
Indeed, the extraordinary global success of Glass Animals and their song ‘Heat Waves’ has given inspiration to other similarly progressive and dynamic bands like Blossoms that they could equally blow up at a moment’s notice. With genre barriers and global boundaries completely blown apart, a band as visually engaging as they are musically arresting like Blossoms are perfectly placed to embrace the new social world. “It had been two years since we last released an album, and it’s taken over. No one had TikTok when we last released an album,” says Tom. “We had to get on board with it. We rated ourselves enough. We’ve got enough content. We’ve always been good at putting that sort of stuff out. Knowing what it’s like and how powerful it is these days has given us a little reminder to consciously keep putting stuff out every week. We’re very capable. We just need to make an effort to do it. Glass Animals’ success is wild. I suppose that shows the power of it. If you’re not even on there, you’re not in with a chance of getting anything like that, so you might as well be on there trying to do stuff because you just never know.”
They have already reached the summit of mount pop multiple times with their albums and now comfortably sit at the top table of Britain’s best bands, but you get the feeling Blossoms’ journey is only really getting started. As they reflect on where they have come from and enter a new era, Blossoms are older and wiser, yet more creative and fun than ever, with an ambition that knows no bounds. ■
Taken from the May 2022 edition of Dork, out now. Blossoms’ album ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’ is out now.
