Artists You Should Know: Alex Bloom Readies New Album ‘Across the Country’

After years of starting and stopping, LA-based singer-songwriter Alex Bloom is getting ready to drop his third album, Across the Country, with the release of his newest single, “Morning.” To celebrate the album’s release, Bloom will be playing an album launch party in LA at the Skylight Theatre Company on Sept. 11.

Like most aspiring musicians of his generation, he began by uploading music onto Bandcamp during high school. By age 15, he had already picked up the guitar and piano, having been inspired by artists and bands like The Beatles and Elliott Smith. His journey would continue throughout college, with his debut album, 2017’s Blue Room, being his senior thesis while at USC.

Since then, he moved to NYC, got married, and moved back to LA, all while releasing singles and EPs throughout the years. However, his newest album marks his first in six years, having been first conceptualized in 2020. The time it took to put it together proved to be valuable, with the apt title of Across the Country detailing his time going back and forth between LA and NYC.

“The possibilities are endless, and then you start to narrow in on what it is that you’re doing without even trying,” Bloom said about the album’s main inspiration.

Compared to “My Room,” the album’s lead single, “Morning” relies heavily on its gentle guitar strings to fuel Bloom’s lyrics full of longing and introspection. Although his initial influences spanned the time between the ‘60s and the ‘90s, his vocal and recording style is more reminiscent of aughts bands such as Fleet Foxes.

At the same time, he manages to make it his own, relying on stripped-back instrumentation that subtly evolves as the runtime progresses. Where “My Room” showed how he could make an atmosphere that brings to mind solace and isolation, “Morning” is a song that lets itself embrace the head-over-heels nature of its subject matter.

In some ways, Across the Country is Bloom’s attempt to go back to his roots. Aside from the fact that the singles released thus far harken back to his early Beatles influence, his honest, lucid storytelling captures an artist who has matured with their music. That, combined with tasteful inspirations and songwriting that touches on topics such as fatherhood and growing up, goes to show the growth he has built up and the sense that it’s his time.

“This record tells a story of a past version of myself,” said Bloom. “I’m in a very different stage of life now that I’m writing songs about—and I can’t wait to share that music too.”

Across the Country, self-produced by Alex Bloom, is out Sept. 12. For more on new music and tickets to upcoming shows, including an LA date at the Skylight Theatre Company on Sept. 11, follow him on Instagram and his website.

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