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May 05, 2016 Web Exclusive By Marty Hill

Few records have stayed with me in the way that S.C.U.M’s first and only LP, Again Into Eyes, has. Dark, odd, trendy, and fizzing with an almost naive creativity, it was a record that found me at a perfect time; it aligned with my budding interest in synthesizers and motorik rhythms and directed me towards many of my favorite records ever, while itself remaining a prized part of my record collection. When frontman Thomas Cohen’s wife Peaches Geldof died suddenly in 2014, it was hard to imagine that we could expect to see that spark again anytime soon. Now a widowed father of two, and an unlikely subject of interest for callous tabloids, you’d have forgiven Cohen for never returning to music, but thank God he did.

Chronologically ordered with a starting point pre-dating Geldof’s death, Cohen’s debut solo record, Bloom Forever, has more moments of elation than one might expect. The title track was written on the day that his second son was born, and jazz-infused cut “Morning Fall” is laced with a poetic optimism. It soon becomes clear that Bloom Forever isn’t the indulgent, forlorn singer/songwriter record that it could so easily have been. Where Again Into Eyes was naive, spontaneous, and texture-focused, this feels steeped in the kind of maturity and sonic richness that such a bold narrative requires. When Cohen later despairs “My love had gone/she turned so cold” on “Country Home,” the bleak reality of his circumstances hitting like a train, it’s a thoroughly intelligent record. The album’s charm is that it manages to deal with first-hand melancholy so eloquently and so affectingly without centering itself entirely around it. Bloom Forever, you can’t help but feel, is Cohen’s second record that will stick around for a very long time. (www.twitter.com/ThomasCohenReal)

Author rating: 8/10