words Alexa Wang
There’s an intense vulnerability to the track ‘Bloom’ from Holysseus Fly. It’s a powerful statement, almost a mantra to herself to break out and shine. But powerful as it is there is a fragility there that you can really feel. Like someone trying to shed their demons in front of your eyes. The video is a great visualisation of the song. Nothing to fussy and dramatic. It lets the artist and the intensity of the vocals take the floor.
Bloom featured on her new EP ‘Birthpool and includes the Radio 6 fave ‘Marigold. Vocalist, co-writer and pianist with critically acclaimed collective, Ishmael Ensemble, Holysseus Fly has already made a powerful impression as a solo artist. Her debut single and ‘Bloom’ B-side, ‘Marigold’, which details her struggle and triumph in finding a new creative identity after surviving cancer, secured early tastemaker support from Annie Mac on her Chill Playlist and was Jamz Supernova’s ‘Hit Reset Track of the Day’ on 6 Music.
“Bloom is about taking ownership of my own creativity. Planting my creations into the ground and allowing them to grow without bashing them down. Understanding that I needed time away to learn and feel inspired, then when I was ready for flowers to bloom, I choose to plant them for myself. ‘Bloom’ describes the process of making my debut EP, de-weeding negative critical thoughts and feeding the ideas time, water and wine to allow them to bloom.
The music video is a visual representation of this. At first you see the painters’ perception of me, I begin as their creation. When the song drops I take things into my own hands and write my own story.”
Video director Jack Liley:
“The metaphors are two fold within this video. Firstly if you think about a flower blooming, it starts off quite plain and hidden like a seed. It grows as a stem, and then in the right moment, when it’s ready, it explodes into amazing colour. That’s partly where the inspiration for the narrative of the video came from.
Then with regards to Holly, we talked about how she was feeling when she wrote the song. The painters represent the nagging thoughts within her own head observing, waiting on and analysing her. Then when she does explode into performance and music and the song drops, she has this amazing defiant power. She’s so much more powerful than they or how she had imagined.
I’ve had the idea of Holly being painted within a still life class for ages, I loved how we adapted that to the song and the meaning. Cinematically we started off quite slow, controlled and intimate with movement. The end of the song became more free flowing and the editing became distorted to show more of a creative burst.”
The EP is out 7th July via Severn Songs.
LIVE DATES:
• Nov 23rd – The Exchange, Bristol
• Nov 24th – Corsica Studios, London
• Nov 28th – The Carlton Club, Manchester
More dates TBA
