Hype List 2020: Bloxx

Bloxx have come a long way since the release of their debut single, double A-side 'You' / 'Your Boyfriend'. Once sustained by their jobs pulling pints, the London foursome - frontwoman Fee, bassist Paul, guitarist Taz, and drummer Moz - have worked tirelessly to say goodbye to that side of the bar in 'spoons so they can focus on what's important: making music, and touring the world.

"We take it very seriously now," Fee confirms. "We're at that point now where we're aware of how you have to do it properly; you can't have as much fun as we used to."

Unfortunately, the band's latest bout of fun resulted in them having to halt their UK tour when Fee fractured her foot while performing on stage in St Albans. It was going really well until then, mind.

"The first few [shows] we did were sold out, and it kicked off the tour in a really fun way for us," Fee enthuses. "There's a lot more waiting around now that we're headlining," she adds. "It can be a bit daunting when you have that much time on your hands, you tend not to know what to do with yourself."

A band that has put a lot of time and effort into their live show, it's winning them both fans and plaudits. They've not long been nominated for the Best Live Act of the Year gong at the Independent Festival Awards, up against Kokoko!, Yola, The Murder Capital, and Black Futures.

"I always get in my head a little bit and am like, are we even good live?" Fee ponders, "so to be nominated for an award that contradicts my worry feels nice."

There's been a fast and unignorable growth in the size of their crowds at their gigs, too.

"Beforehand, we'd walk on stage to people looking at us like, who the hell are you? Now we go out to screaming fans," Fee laughs. "You look at every single person, and they're there because they love you. It's so warming for us. That's the reason why we get on stage; we know that they're there to see us, and it's so humbling."

Fee Booth

This year, they've taken their live show over to the States, which proved more than a little bit mindblowing for them.

"There was this one girl who came in a Bloxx shirt," Fee recalls. "We only sell these at our shows, apart from once when we put them on our website two and a half years ago. I think that must have been our only ever American order, and it was to her! That was a big moment."

The band's sound has been through a real evolution this year, shedding their indie-infused vibe of old, to embrace a much shinier pop feel. Looking back at their debut EP, Fee reflects: "I didn't expect people to vibe 'Headspace' as much as they did, I was really surprised.

"I love it, and it's very different. It's very poppy. I thought people might think we're cop-outs for putting a pop song out and now it's like our biggest song. I love that so much as it's now allowed me to explore other avenues and not give a crap what other people might think."

They've already got an album's worth of material in the bag, but they're keen not to repeat themselves, and Fee will be heading back to the States in December for more writing sessions. With their debut full-length on the horizon, it's all systems go.

"We haven't redone any old releases," she explains. "I hate that. That was the first thing that was said in our first label meeting; I would feel like I'd cheated myself as well as a lot of fans if we'd done that. I feel strongly about it."

Other than the all-new tracklisting, she says, there will be no surprises.

"'Headspace' set us up nicely for the album. It's definitely an angry album, there are songs that hone into a break-up. In the last few years, all of us have been through those sorts of break-ups, so it's stemmed from that, but also, we write really good angry songs for some reason," Fee laughs.

We still have a fair amount of time before the album reaches us, with at least three or four releases to come beforehand.

"All good things take time. We don't have much of a plan yet," Fee smiles, going on to reveal that she's a few big-ticket items on her bucket list for 2020. "We'd love to support The 1975. They're the band of this generation, really, aren't they?"