Songs From the Wedding Cake – Blossoms
Blossoms are back with their latest album Songs From the Wedding Cake, the follow-up to 2024’s Gary.
Having followed the band since their debut in 2016, over the years it has become more and more apparent that Blossoms are a good – not great band. A solid offering from the wave of indie guitar bands from the mid 2010s.
Although nothing groundbreaking, their music is always fun, good-humoured and shows just enough progression with each release to keep it interesting. They also seem like they don’t take themselves too seriously; their 2023 Glastonbury set with Rick Astley playing entirely Smiths covers will forever endear them to me.
For Songs From the Wedding Cake, the band got in touch with Shawn Lee to produce, apparently based on his work on the soundtrack for the now-cult PS2 game ‘Bully.’ The album is named after the Stockport town hall (where the band originally hail from), where lead singer Tom Ogden himself got married.
Unsurprisingly, the album follows the theme of marriage, falling in love and everything in between.
Joke About Divorce
The album kicks off with Joke About Divorce. The track does a good job of laying out the mission statement for the album, its very funky with big basslines, tight rhythm guitar and some very fun backing vocals.
That being said, once we’re introduced to the sound, Joke About Divorce doesn’t really offer much else. The song itself is unremarkable, style over substance with much in the way of memorable hooks. They could have maybe done with a slightly stronger opener.
Husband
The next track Husband, takes the sound previously introduced on Joke About Divorce and turns it all the way up. This track is super synthy with plenty of pitch-shifter action; the album’s slick production really shines on this one. The song even features a really nice breakdown towards the end
Meet me in Love
The funkiness continues with Meet Me in Love. This one features a very dancey chorus and another nice breakdown featuring, who I am assuming, is Natalie Findlay.
Kardashians
This one was one my favourites from the whole album, it has a great bassline supplemented by some nice conga/bongo percussion along with some falsetto backing vocals. The track also features a reverb/echo drenched guitar solo.
Additional Driver
Perhaps the first real misstep from the album. Blossoms usually excel at writing these fun silly songs with witty lyrics (See Your Girlfriend from Foolish Loving Spaces) but here I feel it strays a bit too far into the novelty song vibe with its tacky siren sound effects and tediously mundane lyrics. The song also drags on for 5+ minutes!
Still, I can hear some Talking Heads in the mix which is always welcome. The song also has a fun reference to 192 bus which apparently runs between Manchester City Centre and Hazel Grove via Stockport.
Fall into you
Things recover somewhat here with Fall Into You, the first really sincere moment on the album featuring nostalgic lyrics (something you’ve not felt for an age, when DVDs were all the rage) and some nice dynamics between the more vulnerable verses and bigger choruses.
Still, I’m not sure the album’s maximalist, 80s style production really fits this track very well. At times it can feel a bit heavy-handed.
Guts
Another unremarkable song, perhaps saved by a great drum beat and the sweet “ooh ooh baby” backing vocals. The track has a similar vibe to Paul Simon’s Me and Julio Down by the School Yard with its strummy bright acoustic guitars and African sounding beat.
Uma Thurman
A real highlight and weirdly not the first song named after the Kill Bill actress. This one is slightly more subdued with intimate verses, propelled by a strong bassline. The keys also add a nice touch here.
At times the lyrics can seem like a bit of a mouthful with the chorus seemingly trying to cram in as many movie references as possible. Such a sweet song deserves better.
Where Have you Been my Whole Life?
The penultimate track on the album. This one weirdly reminds of obscure (now cancelled) band Hoops, with its modulated and melodic guitar lines. There are some really nice dynamics between the verses and the choruses here and a killer outro.
The Deep End
Here we arrive at the ablums clsoer, The Deep End. This is a great finale and one of the strongest tracks on the album. The song’s instrumental is very easy on the ears with its doo wop style and glockenspiel accents. There’s also some really great guitar work, especially in the latter half of the track.
In spite of its obvious strengths, the track could have also been a bit shorter, The Organ outro seems a bit unnecessary and somewhat deflates the energy of the guitar build up before.
Final thoughts…
Although at times Songs From the Wedding Cake finds itself indulging more in style over substance, it is still a highly enjoyable listen.
As always, Blossoms are not reinventing the wheel here. The sound is heavily reliant on surfing the current trend of 80s revivalism. The lyrics at times can be cringe-inducing. That said, the album is so much fun and perhaps their strongest since Foolish Loving Spaces.