A Quick Chat with Bloom
Answered by Jono Hawkey
Melodic harcore quintet Bloom are on a steady trajectory as they draw closer to the release of their debut album ‘Maybe In Another Life’ out February 16 via Greyscale Records and Pure Noise.
Sharing a collection of singles so far, Bloom unveiled “You & I” last week, encapsulating the bittersweet nostalgia of love. As told in a press release, “You & I” represents a moment of clarity and reflection, being the only song on the full-length that doesn't feature screamed vocals. Sweepingly sweet guitar melodies wash over poignant vocals to introduce the heartbreaking realities of change.
Bloom signed with Pure Noise Records last year and became the second Australian band to join the fold, finding themselves in the company of The Amity Affliction, Counterparts, Knocked Loose and more. Bloom have carved their place in the Australian alternative music community and have jumped from strength to strength over the years. The band rounded out 2023 touring with Good Things Festival in December and main supporting While She Sleeps across AU & NZ. Previous to this they toured the nation with Thornhill, Holding Absence and Thousand Below. They'll embark on their first Japan tour late Feb supporting ERRA.
We caught up with the band to chat all things album, touring and what lies ahead for Bloom.
Firstly, we just want to say we’re so excited about the release of your upcoming debut album, ‘Maybe In Another Life’ and stoked to hear of your recent signing to Pure Noise! How have the last 6 months been for you all in camp Bloom?
It’s been a wild past few months for us! Since releasing “Bound” in September we’ve been super busy with touring as much as we can & the roll out of our debut record. We’ve been really fortunate to have a lot of things line up nicely between some incredible shows & releasing music alongside them.
2023 felt like a bit of an odd year for us because we spent the first 8 or so months working on things quietly behind the scenes. We spent a long time polishing the album, filming all the music videos and creating the image we wanted to release it with, and finalizing everything to do with signing to Pure Noise. To come out at the back end of the year with a bunch of new material and tour as much as we could really made it all feel worth it. It was definitely nice to log off for a little bit over Christmas to recharge heading into 2024, and we hope to keep the momentum going throughout this year!
In the past you’ve had concepts and stories behind releases such as ‘In Passing’, has that continued on ‘Maybe in Another Life’? What was the focus or theme behind this album?
This one was something that we really put a lot of thought behind as following up ‘In Passing’ felt like a pretty challenging task lyrically. When it comes to lyrics, we put a lot of emphasis on trying to write something literal and relatable to our audience (even if sometimes they aren’t necessarily things you want to relate to). The concept behind MIAL came from a pretty universal feeling of “what could have been” and fantasizing of a different life. As we were writing it, the idea developed into creating a concept album that follows our protagonist through a series of events/experiences/feelings that ultimately lead to a big climatic moment at the end of the album.
Your new song came out last Friday, ‘You & I’, tell us a little bit about that track. Where does it fit within the overall album and concept?
“You & I” was a pretty big step for us exploring a different sound. We all listen to a lot of non-heavy music so it was really just a matter of time before those other genres made their way into our writing. For us it was an intentional decision to have a song on the album without any screaming and having more of an emo/post-hardcore song. We really wanted to push the extremes in both directions with the album - having songs that are our heaviest and softest – and I think “You & I” fits really beautifully into the concept of the album. Lyrically it’s written around the ending of a relationship where neither person wants things to end but realise the relationship has run its course and they’re holding each other back. We used the metaphor of an overgrown garden throughout the song to reflect something that once was beautiful becoming neglected & uncared for. As part of the wider concept, this song acts as a moment of reflection for our protagonist as he finds himself stuck replaying these haunting memories.
The choice to stay more in a melodic space for this latest track, was there an intent behind that decision or was it something that felt right in the moment when making it?
Definitely intentional. Once the instrumentals had been written we all came to the realization that we didn’t need to shoe-horn in a screaming section just because we felt we needed to for it to be a Bloom song. I think the instrumentals really carry the song and we didn’t want to hide them under layers of screamed vocals. Some hardcore Bloom fans might also recognize the leads in the chorus from the title track of our first EP ‘Past Tense’. It’s also a nice change to be able to sing on a song instead of screaming and really showcase a different side of the band!
The title track of the album has a lot of nostalgic qualities to it but executed in a very modern and precise way, was that a consideration when going in to record the album? Do you feel there’s a duty for young artists to do so as a way of progressing the melodic and hardcore genres?
I think those nostalgic qualities that stand out on the title track were more subconscious than intentional. When we were writing and recording the album, we weren’t really trying to revive a particular genre or write a certain sound so to speak, I think we were probably just influenced by the wider Melodic Hardcore genre which has sadly fizzled out since it’s prime in the 2010’s which gives it that “nostalgic” vibe. I wouldn’t really say there is a duty or anything for modern bands, genres tend to evolve by themselves throughout time so I would just say write what you enjoy writing/listening to and that wider progression will come organically.
How are the excitement levels in the lead up to your upcoming shows in Japan with ERRA in Feb? Are there any other places at the top of your lists you’d like to visit and play?
Japan really tops the list for all of us! It’s crazy that our first real international show (outside of NZ!) is in a country that doesn’t really get a lot of touring opportunities. Greyscale Records has put in a lot of work trying to build a relationship between Japan & Australia in the heavier genre so we are very thankful to them for their work behind the scenes in making this happen. We’re all very excited and working on our Duolingo in preparation for it. I’ve never been to Japan before and we’re going to be there for a week so I can’t wait to spend a bit of time exploring the country. We’re also trying to get over to Europe soon – we’ve somehow amassed a pretty decent following throughout Europe and it would be incredible to experience shows on the other side of the world.
With the recent Good Things shows and multitude of tour appearances in 2023, has there been a song in the set that consistently brings the energy from the audience?
“Daylight” consistently gets the crowd moving and we seem to put it nice and early in the set to try and get as many people off their feet and in the pit right from the start. “June” is also a bit of an underdog for us – when writing it we didn’t think it would stick around in the set for long, but it always seems to translate and get crowds jumping.
Recently you released a unique piece of merch in the form of a throw blanket and I must say, they look fantastic. How did the creation of that come to be and can we expect any more fun merch items in the future?
We’re glad you like them! I work for a merchandise company so I spend a lot of time looking at merch and coming up with ideas for Bloom. We knew we wanted to do something a bit different than the usual spread of merch for the album and a throw blanket was one of the many ideas that were floated. We’ll definitely keep working on things that are more unique and limited as I think fans really appreciate merch that isn’t just the standard assortments of tees & hoodies. We have another really fun piece of merch that will be announced & released around the same time as the album comes out!
Who are you most looking forward to hearing new music from in 2024?
Our dear friends in Starve are currently working on their next release and everything I’ve heard so far is insane. They’re an incredible band and I reckon 2024 is going to be their year. Inertia are also working on their next release and that band is insanely talented and have been getting the recognition they deserve right now so I’m stoked for them as well. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of new music this year as well, but being in January it’s probably too early to know who’s coming out with bangers this year!