Photo: Will Ireland

– Despite the band being set to release its third album ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’ in January, Stockport’s indie heavyweights are already planning their forth installation –

·      Tom, Joe and Charlie from Stockport’s finest indie favourites Blossoms are the latest guest to join Radio X DJ Gordon Smart on online music TV show Red Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV

·      The trio chat through the creative process of creating their third studio album ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’, including teaming up with The Coral’s James  Skelly and returning to their ‘uplifting band-y’ roots 

·      Despite plans to release ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’ in January, the band has already scheduled dates to record its forth album in December 

·      Blossoms reveal ambitions to play a homecoming show at Manchester Arena 

Following topping the UK album charts with their self-titled debut album in 2016, Blossoms have become the pin up band for indie music with hit singles such as ‘Charlemagne’, featuring high up on festival bills and even becoming radio regulars. To talk about their upcoming album ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’ and plans to record album number four, Tom, Joe and Charlie joined Radio X DJ Gordon Smart for a chat on online TV show Red Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV.

Despite Blossoms not planning to release their third studio album ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’, featuring latest single ‘Girlfriend’, until January 31^st  2020, the five piece already have plans to head into the studio to record album number four in December. 

Gordon asks the trio about their coming plans over the coming months. Tom replied, “Well we’re going to America for Christmas so got to kind of do a few rehearsals for that. Then there’s boring stuff that goes into the album like picking the booklet photos, so that’s what we were doing yesterday… [They’re asking questions like] ‘what page do you want the lyrics on?’ so we’ve been sorting that out….We’re busy sorting that kind of thing. We’re actually gonna go in the studio in December and start the next album.”

The fourth album aside, Gordon examines the band’s influences, such as Talking Heads and Primal Scream, on third and new album ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’. Tom responds, “It was kind of a step back to how we used to do it because obviously with the first album, you’ve got all the time in the world to write the songs, take it to a rehearsal room and sit around and go ‘oh what about this?’. Then the second album was kind of like on tour time, write the songs and then just go in the studio and that’s the first time they’re hearing the songs, in the studio. Whereas this one was more, because we had some time on our hands it was kind of like, we had some time in the rehearsal room to actually sit about and get the slide guitar out; you know like on ‘Your Girlfriend’? We just had this slide guitar.”

Tom continues, “It was more time to just actually figure out what we wanted to do with it and we’ve got some gospel singers on some of the songs and it’s kind of just a big uplifting album. It is a bit more band-y, isn’t it, than the last album.”

Joe adds, “I think that’s the good thing that comes through with it, you can tell there’s been a bit more that’s gone into it.”

Gordon switches the conversation to the band’s approach to writing songs for the album. Tom said, “I think I’ve always had that in terms of writing, I’ve never sat in a room with everything in front of me to write, I’ve always had the bare bones, so then you kind of challenge yourself. I always think if it sounds great in its most stripped back form then once the lads put their bits on it then it’s only gonna get better isn’t it? I’ve always had that approach.”

The band has a tradition of working in The Coral frontman James Skelly’s studio. Gordon asks whether he is quite an intimidating character, with a big hat and sunglasses on. Tom said, “We kind of figure a lot of it out before hand, we’ll all do a demo and then I’ll send him the demo on WhatsApp and he always says to me, ‘I’ll just find what I don’t like about it, until there’s nothing I don’t like about it’.”

Tom continues, “Sometimes, it’s 90% there and he’s like, ‘oh it’s great, just make it three BPM faster’, literally as small as that or, ‘let’s do a different chord here’. Like ‘Gravity’, the last track on this album, he fully was like, ‘let’s do something different and spin it on its head’ but because we respect him and we’ve worked with each other for so long it’s not like, ‘oh what’s this guy doing?’ There’s a lot of trust there.”

With appearances at Glastonbury, Wembley and a homecoming show at Stockport County FC’s home ground Edgeley Park, Blossoms have a number of notable notches to their indie belts but still have continually growing ambitions. Charlie said, “I think it would be really nice to do the [Old Trafford] cricket ground.”

Joe said, “Even like the two biggest stages in England, Wembley – obviously we did that with The Stone Roses and the Pyramid Stage [at Glastonbury], and we did that. Its mad to think we’ve done those massive stages.”

Tom said, “It would be good to go back on your own and headline one day. Like Manchester [Arena], we’ll be doing the arena next year, that will be great because we’ve seen, [looks at Charlie], was it you who’s seen Steps?”

Blossoms will be hitting the road for a full UK tour to support the launch of its ‘Foolish Loving Spaces’ album, here are the current dates for fans wishing to catch them live. 

·      FEB 13, PRYZM KINGSTON, KINGSTON UPON THAMES, UNITED KINGDOM

·      FEB 29, CYPRUS AVENUE, CORK, IRELAND

·      MAR 1, DOLAN’S PUB AND RESTAURANT, LIMERICK, IRELAND

·      MAR 3, LIMELIGHT, BELFAST, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 4, OLYMPIA THEATRE, DUBLIN 2, IRELAND

·      MAR 7, UEA LCR, NORWICH, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 8, WINTER GARDENS, MARGATE, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 10, ROCK CITY, NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 11, O2 ACADEMY SHEFFIELD, SHEFFIELD, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 12, THE FORUM, BATH, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 14, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER GREAT HALL, EXETER, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 15, O2 ACADEMY BOURNEMOUTH, BOURNEMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 17, O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

·      TICKETS

·      MAR 18, O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 19, O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 21, BONUS ARENA, HULL, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 22, O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 24, O2 ACADEMY LEEDS, LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 25, O2 ACADEMY NEWCASTLE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 27, O2 ACADEMY BIRMINGHAM, BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM

·      MAR 28, MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

Blossoms appear on the latest episode of Red Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV, which also features interviews with Carl and Lucie Barat, The K’s, Cruel Hearts Club, Lona and Andrew Cushin. To view the interviews and performance, please visit the This Feeling YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC43259qkz6qfpOP83ch9z7w

Beside Red Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV, Red Stripe and This Feeling host over 300 live club nights across the country with 1000 acts performing each year. 

For more information on Red Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV, This Feeling club nights or Earn Your Stripe, then please visit the Red Stripe Twitter, Facebook and Instagram page.