Blossoms announce fifth album ‘Gary’ and share title track

Blossoms have announced details of their upcoming fifth album Gary, as well as sharing the title track’s video packed with another cameo from their firm friend Sean Dyche.

The video sees Dyche reprise his role as a crime boss who has tasked the band with the job of stealing an 8-foot fibreglass gorilla from a local garden centre, after previously appearing in the visuals for their recent single ‘What Can I Say After I’m Sorry’.

Speaking about the new track Gary and its accompanying video, Blossoms’ Tom Ogden says:

“The video is directed by myself and my brother Ewan Ogden and it picks up where our last video left off. The song is based on a true story I heard on the radio last year – Gary the 8-foot fibreglass Gorilla was stolen from Reynard Garden in Carluke, Scotland.

“We’ve recreated the story on screen with Rick Astley playing Andrew Scott, the owner of the garden centre, and the band stealing Gary. This video was so much fun to make and was shot again on 16mm film, on location around Stockport, the Peak District, and Derbyshire.

“The song itself is the centrepiece of the album and after toying with different titles, we kept going back to Gary. In the end, it could only be ‘Gary’”.

Blossoms’ new album is produced by the band’s regular collaborator James Skelly of The Coral, alongside Jungle’s Josh-Lloyd Watson, who produced ‘What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?’ And ‘Nightclub’.

In adddition, CMAT has also co-written two tracks on the album, ‘I Like Your Look’ and ‘Why Do I Give You The Worst Of Me?’

Tom Ogden added: “The heart of this record is about the five of us recording live in a room together for the first time in years. We wanted to capture the energy of what it’s like when five friends decide to start a band and make music together. 

“We collaborated more than we ever have on this record too, and alongside working with long-time collaborator James Skelly, we brought in Josh and CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson). We hired an AirBnB on the seafront in Anglesey and locked ourselves away for the writing session with Ciara and it was one of the most inspiring few days we’ve had as a band. During the writing process, we were listening to a lot of Bowie, Blondie, and Hall & Oates.”

According to a press release, the album features stand-out tracks in the form of ‘Big Star’, ‘I Like Your Look’, and ‘Mothers’.

Speaking about how these songs came together, Ogden explained: “The album tracks themselves are based on different stories, mostly from personal experience. On ‘Big Star’ after seeing a well-known music journalist in the Chateau Marmont, I debate going over and introducing myself but then shyness gets the better of me and I don’t.

“‘I Like Your Look’ is a tipping of the hat to Blondie’s ‘Rapture’ and a wink to Joan Baez ‘Time Rag’, and lyrically it explores a tongue-in-cheek approach to high fashion. ’Mothers’ is an ode to my and Joe’s friendship and it references the fact that our mothers were friends back in the 80s.’”

It’s the latest step in a new chapter for the group after they left Virgin EMI last year to set up their own label.

“We’re at a point now where we’re big enough to take the leap and say let’s do something ourselves. We’ve got the help of a distributor called The Orchard who have been great, but it’s not the same as being on a major label,” Ogden told Rolling Stone UK last year. It’s a different set up and now felt like the right time to try something new.”

He added: “We’re being a band that plays instruments in the studio and getting together to do something that just feels natural. It was nice to get back to that and be like ‘Oh yeah, this is why it feels good and the reason it feels natural is because this is how it all began for us in the first place.”

Blossoms are also supporting Tom Grennan at Gunnersbury Park on 10 August and play festivals including Isle of Wight and TRSNMT, before the band’s biggest headline gig to date at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester on Sunday 25 August.