Ribbon Around The Bomb Blossoms

• 1The Writer's Theme00:35
• 2Ode To NYC02:51
• 3Ribbon Around The Bomb02:34
• 4The Sulking Poet03:34
• 5Born Wild03:42
• 6The Writer02:46
• 7Everything About You04:04
• 8Care For02:49
• 9Cinerama Holy Days03:14
• 10Edith Machinist03:12
• 11Visions07:00
• 12The Last Chapter00:48
• Total Runtime37:09

Info for Ribbon Around The Bomb

Ribbon Around The Bomb is the first new music from Blossoms since 'Care For', which was made the ‘Hottest Record’ by Radio 1. Their 2016 debut Blossoms topped the album charts for two consecutive weeks and went on to earn the band BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominations, while 2018’s Cool Like You charted at Number 4 in the UK album chart, spawning the anthemic singles I Can’t Stand It, There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls) and How Long Will This Last? Their third studio album, 2020’s Foolish Loving Spaces was the band’s second UK Number 1 album

Speaking about the new album Tom Ogden said: ‘While on tour in 2019 in Mexico, I visited Frida Kahlo’s house. Looking at her paintings on show, someone had described one of them as being like a ‘ribbon around a bomb’."

"I immediately thought that it was a great title for a song and album because of the imagery that it evoked in my mind. I thought about how lots of things in life could be described as being a ribbon around a bomb in the sense that as people we often dress things up which have a darkness lying beneath them."

The band’s new album is produced by their consistent and renowned collaborators James Skelly and Rich Turvey and revolves around a central character ‘The Writer’.

Standout tracks on the record include Ode To NYC, described by Tom as ‘a love letter to my favourite city, as well as my wife’, The Writer which deals with the fear of and frustration associated with writers block and Everything About You, one of the album’s only love songs, which Tom says is ‘as honest as they come’. Visions meanwhile contains one of the album’s key lyrics ‘Was I complete at 23’, as Tom explains. ’At 23 I had just had a number 1 album and begun my relationship with my now wife Katie. Reflecting on what I’d achieved at such a young age left me wondering, what now?’

Ribbon Around The Bomb was produced by Blossoms and its longtime collaborators James Skelly and Rich Turvey.

Blossoms

Blossoms
British rock quintet Blossoms formed in Stockport, a town just outside of Manchester, England, in 2013. Started by school chums Tom Ogden (vocals, guitar) and Joe Donovan (drums), the band later incorporated Charlie Salt (bass, vocals), Josh Dewhurst (guitar), and Myles Kellock (keyboards, vocals). Their sound was pigeonholed as psych-pop, which the band didn't like; rather, they hit a sweet spot between the Doors and Arctic Monkeys, combining a knack for classic pop songwriting and moody organ atmospherics with a youthful energy. Ogden's delivery occupied the space between Richard Ashcroft (the Verve) and Alex Turner, of the aforementioned Monkeys, as the band slithered from spooky, groovy warmth to peppy Brit-pop. Debut single "You Pulled a Gun on Me" was a fine example of this combination, and the band continued to develop on subsequent singles "Blow" and "Cut Me and I'll Bleed." 2015 saw the release of two EPs -- Blown Rose and Charlemagne. As the band gained exposure, they released another EP, At Most a Kiss, in February 2016. The four-song set featured some new elements to the band's sound, including prominent synths and a more driving urgency. A month later, Blossoms revealed plans for their debut full-length. The self-titled Blossoms was released in summer 2016, topping U.K. and Scottish charts. Months later, they bolstered the effort with an extended edition that included ten additional songs. In early 2018, Blossoms issued the singles "I Can't Stand It" and "There's a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls)," which both appeared on their sophomore effort, Cool Like You, an even more pop-leaning record that arrived in April. The group's third LP arrived in January 2020. Titled Foolish Loving Spaces, the project used its lyrics to focus on themes of love and attachment.

This album contains no booklet.