ON THE RISE
“I just write what’s on my mind,” JUSTHUTCH simplifies, when asked how her album concept, “Maze,” came to her. One of the things that makes this project so authentic is JUSTHUTCH’s natural ability to convey what she’s thinking just by stepping up to the mic and letting it out. She shares that she didn’t really think she could be an artist, because up until this point, she’d been experiencing music through the lens of a drummer and producer. Mind you, less than 10% of women in the music industry are drummers, and even fewer—only 2%—are producers (Musicwave).
Even so, from an early age, JUSTHUTCH was exposed to music by starting out as a drummer. Through jam sessions with various musicians over the years, she developed her own taste in music, moved out to LA, started producing her own tracks, and opened a studio. Vocals came much later. She laughs, that it felt like one day she just woke up and had to speak her mind. It was like a switch. And only just this year. Uniquely, the first track on the album, “Drums Intro” captures a live drum and jam session, where JUSTHUTCH shares she didn’t even realize they were recording, which later morphed into her freestyling over the creative session. From there, she wrote and produced the rest of the album “Maze,” which covers a myriad of emotions she was experiencing throughout this chapter in her life.
"Maze,” the title track on the album, gives us an inside look into JUSTHUTCH’s mind. Lyrics “Toxic love, you’re my drug” or her chorus line “I feel like I’m in a maze, shortie be playin’ for days,”
Sets an overarching theme for the album on how JUSTHUTCH navigates, like that of a maze, these toxic or fake relationships, where so many “games” are being played.
Another standout track, “Options,” delves deeper into these ideas, and reflects on unhealthy relationships while entertaining alternatives. The sultry guitar melody and ambient hip-hop elements strike a balance between apathy and introspection. Chorus lyrics such as:
“Options, it don’t really matter if you leave or stay,” “And I got time to play you in my head”
But as the song unfolds, JUSTHUTCH calls out the unhealthy performative and insincere nature of the relationship:
“Girl I’m in your lights, camera, action
I know you missin’ f***** with passion
Girl don’t ever get to actin’,”
Later in the song, a play on words,
“Girl you too fake, you two-faced,”
That shows there are better, more real options out there, than what JUSTHUTCH is experiencing.
Yet, JUSTHUTCH clarifies there’s no backstory to this album, she needed to write it for her, get it out, and move on to the next. She said it felt like a relief in a way. Music for many of us serves as a therapy whether through creating it or consuming it, and there’s tremendous power in doing the things for ourselves that can help us survive and… thrive.
When asked what she learned throughout this process, she shared exactly that: “Just do it—you can literally do anything, so do it for yourself. At the end of the day, it's all for you. If you like it, that's what matters.”
The truth is, the better we take care of ourselves, the better we can take care of others. But it all starts with showing up for ourselves; from the heart first, and there’s no selfishness in that.
As she continues to dig deeper into her authenticity, JUSTHUTCH shares there’ll be more music on the way!
To hear the start of it all: Listen to Maze here
Stay tuned to JUSTHUTCH’s socials for updates on the upcoming "Maze" music video.
ON THE RISE
Blossoms caught up with NME to discuss competing with The Beatles and Johnny Marr for this week’s Number One album. With ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ in the running, the band also explained why making things themselves remains such an important part of their work as AI becomes more common.
The Stockport group put out their sixth album last Friday, October 2. By the midweek update, it was sitting at Number Two, between The Beatles’ expanded edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ and Johnny Marr’s latest solo album, ‘The Age Of Everything’.
“It’s mad, to be honest,” singer Tom Ogden said to NME about the chart race. “Liverpool on one side, Manchester on the other and Stockport in the middle. If you’d told us this 10 years ago, when we were releasing our debut, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I mean, we’re in good company aren’t we?”
Discussing the stories behind the album, Ogden described ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ as “about being married and all the everyday stuff that comes with it”. He married Katie Donovan, the sister of Blossoms drummer Joe, in 2021. Married life has since given him a new appreciation for what he describes as “the extraordinary ordinary”.
“Saying the wrong thing in an argument, losing your wife’s no claims bonus, crying at the Kardashians, it’s all in there,” he explained. “The album is named after Stockport Town Hall, which everyone round where we live calls the Wedding Cake, and it’s where I got married, so it couldn’t be much closer to home.
“The last album [‘Gary’, 2024] had a song about a stolen fibreglass gorilla, which everyone loved, and that gave us the confidence to bring the same playfulness to this one, just with more personal subject matter this time.”
Alongside tracks that came out of writing sessions with Declan McKenna in a hot tub, the album reflects the band’s desire to stay involved in every part of the creative process.
“It started with the recording,” Ogden explained. “We made the album with Shawn Lee, playing live straight to tape, and once you’ve done it that way you can’t really go and fake everything else. We sat down as a band and picked the colour palette, and everything visual followed from that. We had body scans taken of ourselves and cake toppers of the five of us 3D printed, put them on a real cake and photographed it. I’ve directed and edited the videos, and the sets are all built by hand, no green screen. For the pop-up shop on launch weekend, a local artist hand-painted the album cover for the sign outside.
“It’s more work, but you end up with a world that’s yours, and I think people can tell when a band’s had its hands on everything.”
With AI tools and digital effects becoming increasingly widespread, that approach feels particularly relevant. For Blossoms, though, the motivation is simple: “the fun is in the making”.
“Tape doesn’t let you cheat and neither does a real cake,” Ogden said. “If a set’s a bit wonky, it’s because one of us or our mates built it. I think the more stuff gets generated, the more people want to know a human being actually did it. We’ve been in this band together for over 10 years, five lads from Stockport, and that isn’t something you can ‘prompt’.”
Maya Jama also appeared in the video for the album’s first single, ‘Meet Me In Love’. Her appearance came shortly before the UK launch of Celebrity Traitors, where she took on the role of a traitor alongside a cast that included Richard E Grant and James Acaster.
“She was brilliant,” Ogden recalled of working with Jama. “We’d met her at the MTV EMAs in Manchester a couple of years ago, so we took a chance and sent her a DM …and she said yes. Next thing she’s in a theatre in Cheadle miming my vocals while a load of people dressed as me serenade her. She got the idea straight away and was a proper laugh about it.”
The conversation then turned to whether he thought Jama could take home the win on Celebrity Traitors.
Ogden joked: “As for Traitors, she spent a whole day pretending to sing my song and I almost believed her, so I’d say she’s got every chance.”
Fans can listen to ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ now. In November, Blossoms head out on a UK arena tour with The Royston Club. Tickets and further details are available here.
Before the tour begins, the group is also scheduled to appear on SNL UK on Saturday, October 24.
