THE VAMPS AND THEIR NEWEST ALBUM: CHERRY BLOSSOM
“I won’t settle for less than best and we can do better than this.” It seems like for the Vamps that lyric is more than words in a song. It’s a motto. As their 10 year anniversary is approaching since forming in 2012, this album represents everything they’ve gone through and the people they want to be. They’ve all grown as people and are feeling more confident in themselves than ever and it shows. This piece on The Vamps places a highlight on their newest album, Cherry Blossom released in the pandemic we are all going through. I, myself an 18 year old girl, will be thoroughly breaking down their album and writing about what makes the Vamps one of the best bands of this decade, inspiring so many other artists to pursue their own music and how they are setting themselves up for a lifetime of success by doing whatever the hell they want.
Let’s start with the introduction. The Vamps are a British band blending the pop, rock, and alternative genres. You notice it more in this recent album. You can also hear a bit of country elements in their music, which is funny because one of the members James Mcvey is a huge country fan. The band is composed of 4 members: Bradley Will Simpson, Connor Ball, Tristan Evans and James Mcvey. They found each other online through posting Youtube covers. I would say they found each other at just the right time, because their type of success cannot be guaranteed in our modern technology days. The Youtube market is so saturated to the point where there are so many talented individuals trying to make their big break, so I would say the Vamps were lucky they got their start early on in the 2010s. However, just because they got their start early on as teenagers, that doesn’t mean they’re stopping any time soon. They have plenty more energy to go and if they choose to, so many other types of music to make especially with a loyal fan base who support their actions.
This album we’re talking about today is their recent one they released in late 2020. It has a more alternative sound than their previous projects and it’s heavy on live instruments. They actually mentioned in an interview with the Daily Californian, and I quote, “We did learn with this album to trust our feelings on music slightly more,” McVey said. “In earlier albums, we’d send a lot of the songs out to a wider committee to almost seek approval, but this time (we) produced half of the album and we wrote it all. I think this time we deliberately didn’t ask as many people what they thought about it because we believed in it, which I think is quite a step into a slightly different world to what we’ve done in the past. It’s been really, really liberating to hear fans like the music, because ultimately their approval is what we seek.”
That sounds like a good choice only a few artists make. It’s important to believe in yourself first otherwise it won’t matter what others think. I’m not saying that it’s bad to seek approval from other people, because it’s not. You would want to know if it was your album too. But the point I’m trying to make is that they felt confident enough to only show it to a smaller circle and that represents an amount of growth they’ve experienced through their music. A good life lesson in general is to always be as confident as possible because it reflects on all you do.
This next part is nowhere near as meaningful as the personal connections music makes with people, which is what can catapult you into everlasting success in music rather than a one hit wonder but when you pour your heart and soul into the thing you’re passionate about and you’re honest about who you are in your music, you like to receive compliments and awards and recognitions of achievement. This album did just that. It peaked at #1 on the UK and Scottish album charts. There are so many amazing artists, so it is a huge accomplishment for the band to achieve this with their 5th studio album, might I add. 5th. This means they’re doing things right.
To me success isn’t about the awards, it’s all in the details. When a fan comes up to you and says you changed my life with YOUR music, you can’t help but not care about the trophies. You care that one person’s life is better because of your music. It makes you realize how much music can affect people. My 2 cents for the day is that always be honest about who you are and what you want to do because if not, it can end up hurting someone else and yourself.
I am going to assume that people are fans of music, of any genre. Most people what they look for in music to connect with it and to feel some type of way. Maybe for Dua Lipa fans, they want to dance like they’re at the club with hard hitting pop dance anthems. For Taylor Swift stans, they want to be told a story that makes them cry, laugh or get inspired with country jams, pop anthems or alternative folk songs. For Doja Cat fans, they want to feel sexy and party like there’s no tomorrow with pop and R&B music with notes of afro beats and reggae.
For the Vamps “Vampettes”, they like the Vamps because:
“ The Vamps and their music has supported me through times where nothing else could help me. The Vamps have allowed me to express myself in ways I never thought I’d be able to, and I've met so many amazing people through these 4 guys, experienced so many new things I wouldn't have experienced before. These last 8 years wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t for Brad, Connor, Tristan and James. “ (@brads.hoodie on Instagram)
“The Vamps are really special for me. They are really amazing, I appreciate the way they care, love and respect their fans, the way they educate their fans to always do the best thing with their words and lastly, the way they respect and support each other in the group.”
(@bradwill_world on Instagram)
“ The Vamps have always made me very happy with their music and they’ve helped me through bad situations dealing with bad friends. They have taught me to love myself and that self-love is not selfish. They’ve taught me that sometimes I need to put myself in first place for my own good, and I want to thank them so much for allowing me to create a fan account and support them with everything they do. I owe everything to them. I love these four guys so much they really deserve the world❤️love ya my guys💗
(@thvmpss on Instagram)
“The Vamps mean so much to me. They are literally my everything, whenever I am down or I just need cheering up I listen/ watch The Vamps. I always feel better and I always smile when I’m watching them.They just make my life a whole lot better and make me so much more positive. They’ve helped me through so much in life like being bullied and stuff, so whenever I listen to their music I always relate to the lyrics. I love watching their vlogs when I’m down because they always uplift me, I love them especially because of how much they care about their fans, they love us so much. I love them because they are so talented and inspirational and I just hope I get to meet them one day so I can tell them how much they mean to me and how grateful I am to have them in my life because I’ve made so many amazing friends through them.”(@smilingforbws on Instagram)
I started supporting The Vamps about a year and half ago thanks to the missing you video live at the O2 Arena; I immediately fell in love with Brad’s voice and the way the four connected with their fans. I just liked the way they presented themselves. Today, what I love about them is the positivity, the feelings and happiness they spread with their music and the way they are as people.(@mirrorbrad on Instagram)
Now see, this just makes me disgustingly full of sappy emotions. To see that people care so much about one group of guys because of what it’s allowed them to go through, and the friendships they’ve made through knowing the band. They’ve been able to experience new things. This is what is important. I know that if I was an artist I would care about how my music helped someone through a really rough time. It means I’m doing at least one thing right. Thank you so much to these fans that took the time to write down what they liked about the band. I’m so eternally grateful to you all for doing this. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. My goal as a writer is to be truthful and kind because words matter, and I know that sounds super cheesy like something your 5th grade teacher would say, but it’s true. People are affected by words, positive and negative, but I’ve had a few negatives and it really does hurt. Please don’t forget, online or in person, a human has emotions and what you say can affect us for the rest of our life. I urge you to be conscious of what you write or say. I think the best judge of character to anyone we want to support are the words they use. Okay I’m done now.
This part of the article gives me so much joy to do because I started this magazine because I love music and the art with it and the process of making it. Here I will be doing a breakdown of all of their songs in this album. I’ll be putting bits like how they made a certain sound on a song, or how they completed it through Zoom. I always love to see the talent that comes together to make such a good album. I waited to do this part because I saw they had a UK Tour documentary coming out so I wanted to wait to grab as much info as I could to make this an enjoyable article to read. I know I’ve gone through my fair share of Taylor Swift album breakdowns. They are my favorite thing in the world. I hope you all enjoy this section as much as I enjoyed writing it. Most of the band’s bits about the album is from an interview with Apple Music and I have Apple so it was sort of my inspiration to use the Vamps as my first magazine cover.
ALBUM BREAKDOWN- CHERRY BLOSSOM
Overall Info:
Early in 2020, the band sent their completed album to their label, believing that they had a strong collection of "bangers and ballads" to mark what they regarded as the second part of their career, using the title and imagery as a symbol of "rebirth", but they were not entirely certain about which song should be released as the lead single. (sourced from Wikipedia) The lead single that ended up being released was Married in Vegas.
Songwriters on the Album as a Whole:
Bradley Will Simpson
Tristan Evans
James Mcvey
Connor Ball
James Abrahart
Svante Halldin
Jakob Hazell
Tom Mann
Peter Rycroft
Producers on the Album as a Whole:
Tristan Evans
James Mcvey
Jack & Coke
Lostboy
Jordan Riley
Bradley Will Simpson(stated as producer on tracks 6,7,8,9,11)
Mixing, Engineering, Recording and Programming:
Tristan Evans (programming)
James Mcvey (engineer,programming, recording)
Luke Burgoyne (mixing assistant)
Dan Grech-Marguerat (mixing, programmer)
Stuart Hawkes (mastering engineer)
Charles Hicks (mixing assistant)
Jack & Coke (programming, recording)
Lostboy (programming, recording)
Jordan Riley (programming, recording)
Instruments and their Players on the Album:
Bradley Simpson (bass, guitar)
Tristan Evans (lead guitar, drums)
Connor Ball (bass guitar)
James McVey (bass, guitar, piano)
Jack & Coke (bass, guitar, keyboards, piano,strings)
Lostboy (bass, drum programming, keyboards)
Jordan Riley (bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, piano)
Vocals and Backing Vocals:
Bradley Simpson(lead vocals, backing vocals)
Tristan Evans(backing vocals)
Connor Ball(backing vocals)
James Mcvey(backing vocals)
James Abrahart(backing vocals)
Jordan Riley(backing vocals)
Track 1: Glory Days Intro
-Brad Simpson tells Apple Music, “At the beginning of 2020, me and Tristan went to LA and got an Airbnb. We went in there and there was an upright piano in there. We were like, “We’ve got to put this piano on the album, man. It’s meant to be. We recorded the melody on our phone as a voice note off one of our phones.”
-Tristan told Apple Music, “We loved that hook and we wanted to just create a little intro to kind of explain the sonics of the album early on.”
Track 2: Glory Days
-Bradley tells Apple Music, “ We were all in a really good place as a band. I just remember there being a really positive energy, and I had my mates from home in my head as well, and it was just this idea of just being like, ‘I’m in a really good place, I want to write a really positive song’. It was like that moment of ‘Put your phone down, chill out with the people that you love and that you're happy with, and surround yourself with positive people.’ It's overarchingly quite a positive and uplifting album, and ‘Glory Days’ sets the tone of that straight from the off.”
Track 3: Better
- BS: “A lot of the things that are on the album are either just us or working with people that are friends first, collaborators later. So these two guys we’ve known for years called [songwriter/producers] Jack & Coke were in London. We went and had two days with them, and ‘Better’ was one of the songs that was written. It's written in the context of a relationship and set in the tone of, like, ‘Oh, OK, we fell in love, now we've fallen apart, but do you even notice?’ It's about that idea of going, ‘I can be confident and do those things that I want to do from within.’ You've got that ability to pull yourself out of a negative place.”
Track 4: Married in Vegas
-James McVey: “We really wanted to come back with a statement, and this song was completely written, produced, and released during lockdown. We love all the songs on the album, but we really felt like we needed something punchy. We handed in the album and literally that night I got a FaceTime from Brad. I think he was barely clothed. He was really drunk and he’d just written a song. It genuinely was that moment where we were like, ‘OK. This is the single.’ It just made sense immediately, and from that one night, the entire campaign changed. We sent the song to the record label that night and I think by the next evening, we'd all agreed that was the single coming out in a few weeks. Just a bizarre turn of events with this song.”
-BS: “I think ‘Married in Vegas’ is like the most grand, extroverted version of the songs on the album. It’s like the fun uncle of the album.”
Track 5: Chemicals
-BS: “‘Chemicals’ was the first song that we did. We wanted to work with [UK producer] Lostboy for ages, and he's helped a lot on this album. He's a really talented guy. It was him and Tom Mann. A lot of these songs started from guitar riffs. I think this is the one that set the tone of the production and the sonics of the album down to the vocal production—saturated, gritty, wide-open automated reverbs. That was really something that came around after ‘Chemicals.’ It's a really important song for the album.”
Track 6: Would You
-JM: “I think ‘Would You’ was really interesting for me because I'm a big fan of John Mayer and the very early demo that Brad first put together made me think of John Mayer.”
-BS: “It started off on the Rhodes and then I knew that I wanted to have the verse and the pre-chorus really wide ’80s atmospheric, and that's where the Rhodes and the electric really do it. I got the production to a place and then Tris dropped his sauce on top of it.”
-TE: “Little bit of seasoning, a little bit of spice.
-BS: “I think we could do another album in a similar style to this. I wanted it to sound like Ryan Gosling in Drive. Really, really proud of this one.”
Track 7: Bitter
-TE: “We were in LA and we were actually hanging out with [singer-songwriter] JHart. We were recording vocals for a song called ‘Protocol’ and we were kind of doing other odd bits and he came up and then I remember [we] just started jamming out ‘Bitter.’ I think it just came together really naturally and we kind of went back and forth.”
-BS: “‘Bitter’ was really, really close for ages, but it always was missing something, and then the four of us just went to the studio and were like, ‘Should we just do gang vocals?’ That was literally the thing that made it go from 90% to 100% finished.”
Track 8: Part of Me
-JM: “Even though it wasn't one of the first songs that was written for the album, it was one of the first times that we wrote something together that really helped steer us in a slightly different direction. I think this song is really important because of that, but also it captures a moment of bonding during this album cycle that I think we really needed. We rented a few Airbnbs and it was a case of turning up with all the equipment, shutting the door for a week, and not having anyone else involved in the music. It was the only real song that came from that.”
-BS: “I was listening to a lot of HAIM in like the six months leading up to the album, and this is just trying to rip off HAIM, basically.”
Track 9: Protocol
-JM: “I'm really into country music, so most of what I write on my own sort of skews to that genre. And we put a demo together that sounded slightly country. And then we went in just before the album needed to be submitted. Tristan booked a day at Metropolis just drumming on every single song, and he put live drums on 'Protocol.' And I think his take reinvented the whole song so much that we actually took everything out of the production. It's always amazing putting a song into the pot and seeing what you get on the other side.”
Track 10: Nothing But You
-BS: “I went in to finish something with Lostboy and then just started working on something and had kind of the beginning of the chorus, which is like, ‘Break into my new apartment and take the damn keys.’ Having a super rhythmic melody means that you don't need to do that much because it carries through the song for us. And it's fun. It's just about giving your all to someone or giving someone everything and saying you can do as you wish, that feeling of falling in love and going like, ‘You can take from me everything that you want.’”
Track 11: Treading Water
-BS: “We went out to LA for a string of sessions but none of the songs ended up being right for us. I wrote it at the Standard Hotel in Hollywood, which we've had so many good memories at. I got back after a session and felt quite negative about a few things. It can be quite lonely being out there on your own. And then going into session day in and day out and not feeling like you're getting the songs that you want to get can be quite a demotivating thing. So this was just a moment of sitting in the hotel room, writing a song on acoustic, stripping it right back. It feels like the perfect end to the album because the last lyric is ‘First off I'll work on me.’ It's ending on that idea of not using that feeling as a negative one, not sitting in that negative space, but going, 'I've got to just work on this, not only for me, but for the people around me.' The album starts with ‘Glory Days’ and this really positive thing, and it ends similarly on a positive slant.”
I don't think much needs to be said about the Vamps other than the fact they are criminally underrated for the talent they amass in their bodies. I can give a personal testament to how much this band has gotten me through but I really wanted to make it all about the fans and them here. I truly believe the Vamps are one of the best bands out there right now and to whoever might be reading this, I hope you truly understand just how much it takes to be this good. You need discipline, passion, positivity to get through those times where it seems like no one believes in you. You have to believe in yourself otherwise you won't make it very far and people won't believe what you're trying to sell them. That's all for today but I truly hope you enjoyed this article and I hope that it was informative for you. I wish you all the very best, sending you hugs and kisses xx.
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