By DJ Monk
Conny Bloom should be a name well-known to regular ÜR readers, as he has been the charismatic frontman of Swedish groove riders Electric Boys for nigh on three decades (as well as a brief tenure as hired studio gun with Finnish neighbours Hanoi Rocks). However, in recent years he has been exploring both his musical and historical roots, as evinced by this, his second solo album, on which he once again reverts to his native language to deliver a collection of deeply personal and forthright songs.
Like his debut solo effort, ‘Game! Set! Bloom!’ is a totally different entity from his Electric Boys output. For a start, it is a much more laid-back affair, almost overly relaxed in its overall vibe, as evinced by the opener ‘AB Maffiadojjor’, with its jazzy lounge-singer feel, complete with languid saxophone interjections. ‘Rulla på’ is more energetic, but sees Bloom straying into almost Eurovision territory, with the song’s happy-clappy chorus and layered vocal harmonics: very feelgood and, given the album’s mid-March release date, an almost inevitable inclusion on your Spring soundtrack.
‘Skadad’ has a weird Bowie feel to it, reminding of the Starman in his more psychedelic personifications, with tinges of Bolan also resonanting in Bloom’s retrospective intonations. Now, I’m not going to go into a track-by-track break down, and, despite my ancestors hailing from that part of the world, I don’t understand Swedish and therefore cannot analyse the lyrical content (outset of what is contained in the accompanying press release), but it is very obvious that ‘Game! Set! Bloom!’ is the result of its creator having a helluva lot of fun exploring different musical avenues. At the same time, the overall warmth of the album, and the friendliness of its feel, will make it extremely familiar to fans of Electric Boys, who will immediately find much with which to identify in its ten songs, even if some of them, such as ‘Jag tror jag trollat bort mig själv’, disappear off at all sorts of psychedelic, almost trance-like, tangents. And, of course, it features my beloved Hammond organ, so that’s a chicken dinner winner right from the off!
‘Game! Set! Bloom!’ is a beautiful album, sonically rich and wonderfully crafted, diverse yet cohesive in its construction and accomplishment. The sort of album I’d definitely line up on the ÜRHQ death decks when barbecue season comes around…
- ‘Game! Set! Bloom!’ is released on 13 March. You can get your copy HERE.
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