Blue Room

There’s nothing like a classic break-up record. There’s a clarity that comes from an artist creating from the raw state of navigating heartache. Alex Bloom brings that sentiment to his debut, Blue Room. But there’s a lot of pep for the broken-hearted here. “I Don’t Know You Anymore” skips through its bright chorus like something from a Tobias Jesso Jr. tune. What really stands out on this record are the vocal arrangements, the kind of layered choruses that work together like a well-oiled machine rather than as superfluous textures of harmony. “One More Shot” has intimate multilayered vocals akin to Elliott Smith (the record was actually recorded in Smith’s old studio, New Monkey, in Van Nuys), providing an instantly soothing quality. The single “Sunrise” feels like a Fleet Foxes B-side (almost eerily so) with its startling verse jumps. The influences are distinct and varied, and the result is thought-out and well done.