038: Bloomsday - Bumper Sticker

tom johnson

Jun 10, 2024 — 2 min read

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Bemoan the majority of music streaming platforms as much as you like, they're ripe for it, but it was thanks to ~ t h e a l g o r i t h m ~ that I first became aware of Bloomsday's new work, the app constantly slipping in Iris James Garrison's songs at the end of album's I'd chosen to listen to.

Every time I accidentally heard Garrison's voice over the past few weeks I got that little rush of warmth, that nagging little tug in my chest where I tried to place it, tried to recall who it was that was gently stopping me in my tracks. And it was always, and still is, Bloomsday.

Garrison's songs feel like a beautiful weaving of so many of my favourite bands, and it's no surprise to learn that the new record "was recorded at Babehoven’s studio and co-produced by Babehoven’s Ryan Albert, with mixing by Henry Stoehr of Slow Pulp. The record was built out with a wide-ranging group of collaborators, including inventive drumming from Andrew Stevens (Lomelda, Hovvdy), Alex Harwood, Richard Orofino, Babehoven’s Maya Bon, Hannah Pruzinsky (h.pruz, Sister.), and Chris Daley."

For all of those binding of worlds and ways, the Heart of the Artichoke LP, released just last week, feels distinctly and endearingly like Bloomsday's own world. Garrison has a soft, slow-burn voice, and it fills these songs with both an earnest heart but also a necessity to delve deeper. Across the albums ten songs, it finds a way to balance subtlety with creative exploration, using the aforementioned collaboration not as a sign post to some eventual end-point, but a means to finding their way back home when they've gone far enough away to feel the heavy pull of its calling.

'Bumper Sticker' was the final single to be shared before the album's full release and it's indicative of the compelling nature of Garrison's craft; a gorgeous, hazy pop song with just enough weariness and just enough resolution to find a balance amid all the distracting unsteadiness that so constantly tries to throw us off course.