Move over, here’s the next generation of Indie rockers. Brooklyn-based Golden Bloom serves up a full helping of catchy tunes somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and The National.
Golden Bloom is the project of New York singer-songwriter Shawn Fogel. ‘Fan The Flames’ is their second album, choc-full of catchy hooks and songs that feel immediately familiar. Golden Bloom rocks (’EHM’), rolls (’She Leaves Me Poetry’) and croons disarmingly direct miniatures .
Shawn’s lyrics are full of clever one-liners and dodge familiar cliches in favour of some fresh angles. Like, how about the one describing an unnamed US president’s secret phantasies about pushing that red button to unleash his ‘Doomsday Devices’?
“Most of the songs I’ve written in the past stemmed from personal relationships and existed very much in my head,” says Shawn about the material on ‘Fan The Flames’. “These new songs are different [...] They’re less about what’s going on in my head and more about what’s going on in our country and our planet.’
Watch The Video For ‘Doomsday Devices’
Peter Katis, who produced albums by Alternative Rock acts The National and Interpol, puts a big but intimate sound on four of the albums nine tracks. Other producers who worked with Shawn on ‘Fan The Flames’ are Roger Greenawalt, Ryan Ball and Dylan Magierek. Despite the large number of fingers on the mixing console, ‘Fan The Flames’ has turned out to be a very cohesive album that gives Golden Bloom a distinctive sound of their own. If you were sitting on the sidelines up to now as far as Golden Bloom was concerned, check out ‘Fan The Flames’ and get ready to be blown away by their new found confidence.
Outside Golden Bloom, Shawn plays bass with New York band the LeeVees. LeeVee’s drummer Michael Azerrad, a former Rolling Stone editor and author of Nirvana biography ‘Come As You Are’, and LeeVee keyboard player Dan Saks are part of Golden Bloom’s live line up which will bring ‘Fan The Flames’ to the stage soon.
Listen here to the promotional MP3 of ‘EHM’. Just click on the player below.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Want more? Click here for more free Golden Bloom goodies.
If you like Golden Bloom, you may also like:
