Kath Bloom - Finally

"The flowers are in bloom, it just makes me more lonely". Kath Bloom, queen of the universal sadness! Remarkably, this is the first time Finally, a collection spanning her 90s recordings, has been issued on vinyl, having first been released on CD by Chapter in 2005. The early part of this century was a good time for Bloom's music to be re-introduced to the world, making absolute sense in the context of the general rediscovery of folk aesthetics happening around that time courtesy of Joanna Newsom, Diane Cluck, Josephine Foster et al, and indeed a number related artists from that coterie were to cover her for a record released in 2009. There's an universal, eternal quality to both Bloom's songwriting and voice, pure, declarative and pinpoint, honing in on relatable truths with unique ease. It's why these songs continue to show up in Hollywood films and in the months of other singers. Given such obvious appeal, it's strange to think that these songs began life as self-released, home recordings without any real observable or dedicated audience. Well, that's long since the case now, and nearly two decades since Chapter first began their relationship with Bloom, and thus so a much larger audience also, this music remains just as powerful and affecting, an enduring sense of longing, emotion and, yes, essential truth. A talent for the ages.