It’s a giant 12 months for Lennon Kloser, who performs beneath the moniker Kid Bloom. He’s been making gently psychedelic indie-pop since 2016, but it surely wasn’t till June 3 that he launched his debut album, Freeway.
Making an LP after years of releasing singles and EPs was new territory for Kloser. Not solely was he re-introducing his music to the world, however he was additionally displaying a special facet of himself — one that’s introspective and susceptible. He began writing music for the album proper earlier than the pandemic hit in 2020. However when confronted with the newfound isolation in the course of the lockdown interval, the configuration of the LP reworked.
“The album sounded utterly totally different from pre-pandemic to after as a result of, throughout it, I simply began letting all this shit fly out of me,” he explains to SPIN over the cellphone. “I used to be like, ‘Okay, it is a little bit extra of what I’ve been chasing ceaselessly,’ and I feel that’s what then began to evolve the songs slightly bit extra. [The lyrics were] slightly bit much less private or emotional [before that time in solitude]. After which when the pandemic hit, I used to be sort of compelled to sit down there on my own. That’s when it modified.”
A lot of Freeway explores the dynamics Kloser has with others and himself, trying again at what he wished he may’ve mentioned and carried out in earlier relationships, whereas additionally reflecting on how he’s modified by means of these connections. In “Center Floor,” a bouncy, synth-focused monitor, Kloser examines his limitations inside a relationship and decides he must make a change and “step onto the center floor.” Whereas in “Treatment,” a disco-tinged tune, Kloser wonders if he took the steps “to be somebody new.”
“Relationships clearly play an enormous half in studying about myself and studying who I actually am,” he admits. Kloser notes that whereas writing, he evaluated “sure issues of previous relationships — not even having to be romantic. I don’t see it as having to be romantic. However extra than simply the connection with [others], that is going to sound tacky, however lots of it’s concerning the relationship I’ve with myself. ‘I Fell In Love Once more’ is sort of a play on falling in love with your self in a relationship.”
Sonically, Freeway can also be Kloser’s most wide-ranging work but. The L.A.-based artist makes music that matches town he calls residence: Its chilled-out vibes don’t match only one field, as a substitute mixing numerous genres like synth-pop, R&B, ’80s-inspired pop, and even hints of hip-hop. Reflecting again on his course of, he says he let the music see the place it’d go, toying with totally different sounds and “venturing into totally different characters.” “I simply began [experimenting with] vocal decisions and all that stuff,” he says. “That was a giant one for me on this album; I feel vocally I attempted to do one thing I’ve by no means carried out.”
Kloser had the chance to co-write “Persuade Me In any other case,” the Maroon 5 track that includes H.E.R that appeared on the group’s 2021 album, Jordi. However his largest collaborative aim is to work with Tame Impala. “You recognize what’s hilarious? I’ve this predetermined disposition the place I really feel like it doesn’t matter what, if [the band’s Kevin Parker] hears my shit, he would hate it as a result of I like him a lot,” Kloser jokingly admits. “He’s impressed me to make music in so many fucking totally different ways in which I really feel like if he hears it, he’ll be like, ‘Oh, that is simply fucking what I do.’ However, hey, who is aware of? I’m placing out good vibes into the universe.”
The expertise of constructing Freeway was so rewarding for Kloser that he’s already planning the subsequent steps. “I’m actually already occupied with what my subsequent album goes to sound like. I’m already like 4 songs in,” he says. “It’s going to sound utterly totally different and juicy and hopefully the identical quantity of honesty and eloquence. However I feel I simply need to do one thing totally different. I need to go possibly even slightly bit extra pop.”
However earlier than he ventures into making his subsequent LP, Kloser has one thing else to sit up for: his headlining tour, which kicks off in September. “It’s actually surreal that this album’s out and now we’re enjoying it. What I’m trying ahead to most is that this music actually coming to life.”