Right now, feels like we’re in the best condition of our lives
REST is not a word that appears to exist in Tom Ogden’s vocabulary. His band Blossoms have recently released Foolish Loving Spaces, their third album and second number one, and had planned a packed tour of the UK and Europe before coronavirus forced them to postpone the rest of the dates unti later in the year.
Tom has already finished the lion’s share of the band’s next album.
The stylish and shaggy-haired Stockport quintet – Tom, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, Joe Donovan and Myles Kellock – are the epitome of hard-working.
This has been reflected in Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominations, and a homecoming show at Edgeley Park Stadium that sold out in under an hour.
Tom, a softly-spoken 26-year-old, admits that he finds it hard to revel in their successes – or plan for the future.
“It’s always a nice little cherry on the top when something you have created is well received,” he says humbly. “It feels great that it got to number one. It reiterates the fact you’re doing something right.
“But you’re thinking about next week, really. You’re not [even] thinking about the future.”
Tom explains that their latest album was inspired by Talking Heads, U2’s The Joshua Tree album and “the gospel side of Primal Scream”.
But Blossoms, formed in 2013, are also part of a new breed of guitarband who are unafraid of their pop sensibilities.
Where predecessors like The Strokes and The Libertines fought back, Blossoms embrace the enticing sounds of George Michael, Abba and Duran Duran.
They unashamedly call themselves “big fans” of Post Malone and even covered the rapper’s hit Better Now in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.
Baggy-trousered tracks such as Your Girlfriend and foot-stomping single The Keeper combine nostalgia with modern pop.
Tom was in a happy place when he started writing the album over the Christmas of 2018. He had recently moved in with his girlfriend – the so-called “Keeper” – and begun renovating their house.
Because the building was in a state of disrepair, he would return to his parents’, working in the same room he penned the band’s first two albums.
“Up to that point, I’d never written anywhere else apart from my mum and dad’s back room,” he says with a sharp laugh.
When the work was done, he bought an upright piano and wrote nearly 30 songs – so many the band considered releasing three minialbums.
Their long-term collaborator,
James Skelly from The Coral, suggested they “do something different” and visit Nashville, Tennessee, to record the album.
But the band decided to “keep the vibe going” and return to their spiritual home of Parr Street Studios in Liverpool.
This positivity bubbled through into the album’s heady love songs, earning the record rave reviews and propelling it to the top of the charts.
“Obviously, everyone has their personal stuff, and day-to-day, no-one’s happy,” he explains.
“But on the whole, it feels like we’re a new band and it feels great. This is the most excited we have ever been, definitely.
“Right now, it feels like we’re in the best condition of our lives.”
Blossoms are due to embark on their first stadium tour later this year, coronavirus restrictions permitting, before supporting The Killers on their Imploding The Mirage tour.
Tom does not attempt to play it cool. “This is mad,” he exclaims.
“We were dancing to their songs in nightclubs when we were teenagers.
“And then obviously, listening to the songs and them influencing you as a band, to then sharing a stage with them – they’re dreams come true.
“We have toured with some of our heroes before and The Killers are definitely up there. It’s an honour, really.”
Tom reels off the acts Blossoms have shared a stage with: Paul Weller, Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and both Gallagher brothers.
“We have done all our heroes,” he says before tossing in for good measure: “Ah, the Stone Roses.”
Their newly expanded sound has also meant expanding the band’s line-up to incorporate percussionists and gospel singers.
“In the past, some of the percussion has been on a backing track,” he divulges.
“But because percussion is so heavily featured on this album, we didn’t feel like we could cheat it this time round.
“We wanted to be true to the record and step it up live, which is why we did it.
“It breathes a new life into the band. It just feels fresh, I think that’s the best way to describe it.”
“Not that we were bored with just us five, but when you’ve done a lot of shows together and have travelled around, new leases of life are a positive thing.”
As for that mostly written “darker” fourth album.
“We have put real strings on one of [the songs] as well,” says Tom excitedly. “The one we have just done, it’s a bit moodier.”
From the sounds of it, Blossoms’ purple patch is set to continue.