Blossoms: “The last thing we want to do is mimic what we’ve done before”
Few British guitar bands have held down their main stage status quite like Blossoms over the course of their last five albums. For frontman Tom Ogden, the journey with his best mates has always been about forward movement. “The last thing we want to do is stay still and mimic what we’ve done before,” he tells NME from the comfort of the band’s Stockport rehearsal space.
Perhaps the secret to that staying power has been the fact they’ve never lost sight of having fun along the way. A project born from escaping their humdrum surroundings while drawing influence from the Mancunian giants on their doorstep, Ogden attributes their steady growth to the bond the five members have had since childhood. “We’re still all really good friends, and we do everything together; we’re a bit of an anomaly in the industry in that sense.”
The band headed into their fifth album ‘Gary’ – released last week, and currently challenging for the Number One spot on the UK Albums Chart – fresh off one of their biggest career milestones to date. A sold-out home soil show in Wythenshawe Park in front of 30,000 fans. With their latest singles whipping around the radio airwaves like old favourites and their name firmly in the hat for the Oasis support slots, the band have every right to feel on top of the world.
“It does feel like we’ve really stepped it up again,” smiles Ogden. “That’s important because I don’t want to drift off into the abyss like so many other bands do. This album is helping us stand out from the crowd a little bit. The songs are taking on a life of their own, and it feels like people are taking notice again, and we’ve really taken the live show to another level.”
He says after their more introspective and cinematic fourth album, 2022’s ‘Ribbon Around The Bomb’, the band were gunning for an all-out party record this time around. “It’s amazing, like ‘Gary’ has already gone down just behind some of our biggest tunes after ‘Charlemagne’, ‘There’s A Reason Why’ and ‘Your Girlfriend’. I remember looking out at Wythenshawe, thinking, ‘Fucking hell, I was writing this a year ago, and now there’s 30,000 people chanting along’.”
Having just announced a home soil residency of five Manchester shows in five different venues to celebrate their new album as part of the forthcoming UK tour, Ogden caught up with NME to discuss subtle reinventions, staying true to themselves and why the band have got the perfect CV if Oasis come calling for a support act next year.
“If you’d have told me we’d be mentioned around Oasis when I was 16, I would never have believed you”
Blossoms have had a sense of playful abandon throughout your career, but this album does feel like you’re letting loose on all fronts…
“It’s like an amalgamation of everything we’ve done previously. You take little bits from every writing experience throughout your career, and then you find what you like. The last record felt like an outlier because it was written through the lockdown and it almost felt like it was for a film or something. Before I even wrote a song this time, I knew I wanted this album to feel like a party record. It ended up taking many different turns. It was the most lost I’ve felt in a weird way, but you end up finding your path, and we really had fun with it.”
You’ve always had those infectious grooves that resonate on the biggest stages, was working with new collaborators about pushing yourselves out of your comfort zone?
“Definitely, it’s definitely our most collaborative record to date. We did work with James Skelly [The Coral] again, but for years, he’s been pushing us to work with someone else. Josh [Lloyd] from Jungle was the first port of call because I just love their sound. We did ‘What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?’ and ‘Nightclub’ with him in Metropolis Studios in London. It was such an eye-opening experience. He’s so talented and he really did bring the groove on those tunes.”
You also worked with CMAT, who must have brought a fresh outlook on the songwriting process. What was it like working with her?
“That was definitely a breakthrough moment. I heard her album while I was record shopping in Brighton, and every tune was just blowing me away, so I went up to the counter and asked who it was, and it turned out she was playing in town that night. We went to see her in this tiny venue – it blew us away, and Myles cried. Then we went for a few drinks around some pubs in Brighton and had a great laugh. When it came to writing the album, we’d booked some time away in Wales, which she ended up coming along with us for the week. There was this injection of adrenaline into the band, and we came out with two incredible songs.”
It feels like you’re completely trusting yourselves. A testament to that is the title-track ‘Gary’ about a stolen fibreglass gorilla. It’s adventurous, fun and very Blossoms…
“It comes down to listening to your gut and knowing what you are. The story entertained me so it was a reflection of my personality to write about that. Songs don’t have to say much, like ‘She’s Electric’ is just a great tune; the lyrical content doesn’t have to be the deepest thing ever. Certain songs serve a purpose. It was written really fast, and it just felt right. I rated the melody, and I thought it was catchy; it did feel very Blossoms. It does take a certain amount of years and experience to feel comfortable enough to do that. We’d have never done it on album one.”
At the same time, under the surface, it’s a really warm and beautiful song. I think Blossoms have always managed to strike that balance really well…
“The lads were saying that when we were working on it, the melody is actually quite melancholy and it’s one of those songs that sounds great just on the acoustic guitar. I always go back to ‘Your Girlfriend’ being a breakthrough moment as a songwriter. That changed my writing forever. It made me feel like I could do anything and write about anything; it doesn’t always have to necessarily be about myself. It’s like that thing Bowie said, though: you have to step out into the water and when you feel out of your comfort zone, that’s when you’re ready to make something.”
In light of you teasing the support slot at the Wythenshawe gig, we’ve got to talk about Oasis. You’ve opened for Liam and Noel plenty of times over the years. Did you ever think you’d see the day you might be able to do it for Oasis?
“It was the best-kept secret in the music industry. We were playing at Wythenshawe Park on Sunday, and on Saturday night, the reunion article breaks. We’re all like, ‘This has got to be bullshit again’, but it felt a bit more legit. The next day, going to the gig, our manager calls us saying we need to show a video on the screens after the set because they’re showing it at Reading & Leeds. I’m like, ‘Is it Oasis?’ and he says, ‘I can’t tell you’. When we came offstage, we ran around to the front to see the video!”
“When we left our label, there was a bit of uncertainty, but it weirdly feels like we’re bigger than we’ve ever been”
So, do you think you might be supporting them?
“Nothing has been discussed, nothing has been asked; I don’t think they’ll sort it out until next year. It’s sold out. They don’t need to announce the supports. I’d like to think our name might be in the mix because why not? We’ve never shied away from saying how much they’ve influenced us. We went to watch them at Heaton Park when we were 16, and we kind of know them both. I’m not going to get my hopes up, though, because, at the end of the day, it’s up to them. If we get asked, the bags are packed, and we’d smash it.”
You’re well versed in opening for Mancunian royalty. What would it mean to you to support Oasis, though?
“Our mantra was instilled into us from Oasis. I grew up listening to them and seeing those songs being sung in the biggest stadiums. That’s what I wanted. Ten years on, to have done Wythenshawe, to have opened for The Stone Roses and to have your name brought up within the Oasis stuff, if you’d have told me that when I was 16, I’d have been like, ‘What the fuck’. We saw them before we were even a band. I would have never believed you.”
The last time we caught up, you said, “Blossoms don’t see a limit to what you can achieve”. I guess it’s nice to have a new potential bucket list moment on the horizon.
“That’s the one I never expected to be possible, but now they’re back together, it’s like, ‘Ooh, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?’ It’s amazing because we’d left our label without any bad blood or anything like that. We’ve gone on our own, and there was a bit of uncertainty, but it weirdly feels like we’re bigger than we’ve ever been, we’re the most us we’ve ever been, and it feels like a lot of really exciting stuff is happening. It’s what we’re all in it for.”
Blossoms’ new album ‘Gary’ is out now via Odd SK Recordings
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Rhys Buchanan
NME
