ON THE RISE
“Magic Man”, set to rocking electronic pop instrumentation and a blood-thumping beat, started out as an acoustic, earthy, soulful folk song. Inspired by four little girls whom she nannied years ago, Loraine wrote “Magic Man” while being immersed in a world of fairies, mermaids and other magical creatures.
It reminded her of the time when she was a little girl, and how important it is to never lose a sense of magic in life. This aligns with Loraine also being a Certified Life Coach and her belief in our ability to create and manifest our dream lives.
These simple yet powerful lyrics take on magic from Loraine’s power voice and the all-out, joyous way she sings them.
He is the Magic Man
Everywhere he goes he plants
Gold magic seeds
For our magic needs
She has embraced electronic production. “I love that there’s a lot more variety — there are so many options and so many different sounds,” she said. “You can create anything, and I love that. Of course, I also love acoustic music and other genres, but it’s a real art to create new sounds out of electronic music.”
Loraine was born in the Netherlands and raised in Belgium, and is now living in Portland, Oregon. Her musical life started as a child and in her youth as an orchestral clarinetist, but her passion has always been to sing and perform.
In 2008, she found musical inspiration when she attended a song-writing workshop conducted by one of Europe’s most famous, best-selling musical artists, Milow. She has been writing songs ever since.
She first released music in 2018, a five-track EP called Light Up. This year, “Magic Man” is her third release in 2024, joining “All That’s Left” and “Starlight.”
“Magic Man” and “Starlight” will be on her next EP, Power from Love, which will release on January 3rd. Her music and outlook have changed. In Light Up, the frame of mind in the lyrics is a little darker, the music a little more ominous, although never without hope.
It’s an assessment she agrees with.
“Yeah, I think so too,” she said. “I’ve evolved as well. I’m happier now. It’s not like I was super unhappy or something, but” — and here, life coach meets musical artist, or maybe it’s vice versa — “I’ve worked a lot on myself, on self growth, and the first EP has definitely got some darker times in my life in it. That translates in the music.”
And she laughs.
As she says in her bio, both her passions share inspiration from “life’s experiences and belief in our ability to create and manifest the lives that we truly desire.” Music is one of her “coaching and healing” tools.
For Power from Love, she has joined forces with Germany-based producer Stella Scholaja and “found a soulful electronic sound.”
“Starlight” is a soft, slow, lovely ballad about beauty, inspiration, reality and pretense. In “Magic Man,” she said, she was looking more up-tempo, “to bring in passion.”
“This song is definitely meant to get your blood pumping.”
The EP will be a mix. The title song, “Power from Love,” “has a dancey electronic vibe.” “By the Ocean” is “more of a melodic blend of sound.”
The first song, “Rise Up,” returns part way to darkness, at least compared to “Magic Man.”
“It’s more of an anthem, a rise up, a new beginning and getting out of the dark.”
Rise up, rise up,
The mystics have been cooking up a silent revolution
Hiding in the shadows my friend
“I really like how they’re all unique but fit together as a whole.”
On making a career of music as well as coaching, she says it has always been a passion, and, as she talks, the life coach emerges.
“I’m always building and growing. It’s about trusting the process and finding the gifts and the treasures on your way to whatever your North Star is.”
Meantime, there is “Magic Man.”
He says give all your love to my gooey golden magic seeds
He says give all your love to them
Water them, cherish them with passion and peace
“Gooey golden magic seeds”?
“Yeah, I don’t know where that came from,” she laughs. “Also, everybody has their own interpretation of who the Magic Man may be. That makes it fun.”
Connect to the magic. Connect to Loraine on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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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.
