“In Bloom” is the lead single from Yoshika Colwell’s debut album On The Wing, which will be released by Blue Flowers on July 25. The single also arrives alongside the news that Yoshika will headline Blue Flowers 20th Anniversary Show at The George IV in Chiswick, London, a night that has previously hosted Adele, Laura Marling, Michael Kiwanuka and Jamie T – to name just a few.
Described by Yoshika as “the most hopeful song on the album”, “In Bloom” arrives with its accompanying video, which was directed by Tilly Wace and features Yoshika’s family – providing a fitting visual accompaniment to a song that is brimming with warmth and manages to find a glorious optimism amongst existential dread, as Yoshika explains
“In Bloom is a song exploring the concept of sunny nihilism, which I read about once somewhere. It’s about acknowledging that everything ends, but trying to find the beauty and freedom in that. It’s a song about inevitable death and trying to enjoy your life & the people you love whilst it’s all happening, disguised in a bouncy, upbeat kind of country song”
Life, for us all, comes in seasons: the bitter frosts and balmy awakenings that herald the literal passing of time, but also the periods of retreat and re-emergence that bookmark our own individual paths along this mortal coil. For Yoshika Colwell, the last decade has found her existing at both ends of the spectrum. Following a period of complete dislocation fuelled by a move to a new town, lockdown and a traumatic break-up all striking in quick succession, it would take a stretch of restorative isolation to bring her back to full creative and personal health. Now, however, all of that sadness and pain, acceptance and slow-dawning hope has been channeled into debut album On The Wing: a tender trip through the outer regions of folk that embraces the journey and finds meaning in each step. “It felt like I’d been stripped away,” says Yoshika, “and then it was just about: What do I actually want to say?”
Produced by Oli Bayston (Barry Can’t Swim, Rachel Chinouriri), the album was recorded at Studio Orbb, where Yoshika recorded her critically acclaimed debut EP There’s A Time. Since then, a string of releases have seen support from Stereogum, Paste, The New Cue, BBC 6Music, and The Line of Best Fit, to name a few, whilst Yoshika has played her first shows in the US at SXSW, a sold-out London headline at the Moth Club and the Great Escape. This summer she plays Moseley Folk Festival and End of the Road, as well as an in store UK tour, in support of the album’s release.
Thoughts Words Action 