Alex Bloom’s Yeah shimmers with a timeless, hazy, dream-like feeling. It clearly echoes and evokes the easy-going rock of the 60s, including The Beatles and The Byrds, and more modern iterations of a similar style, including The Shins.
At the same time, Bloom’s music has more diverse influences beneath the surface. For example, on his 2021 single, Bleary, Bloom set out to create a J Dilla like beat, lending his music a lilting, off-tempo funkiness.
Back on Yeah, we have a warm, sun-kissed feel as Bloom deliberately looked to recreate a simpler sound, describing it as ‘music that just feels really great to play and sing’. Written and produced in the summer of 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, Yeah comes from a period that saw Alex mostly confined to the studio in his Echo Park apartment, following a move back home to Los Angeles. Describing the song, Bloom notes the fact that the move hadn’t quite lived up to his expectations:
‘Yeah is about living in a pretty comfy malaise, until one day you wake up and realize how deeply unhappy you are and how many big life choices you've made have been mistakes. And at the same time, everything kinda seems to be fine, though you know deep down it's not at all how you hoped life would be by this point. The music mirrors this sentiment, steady, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing on the surface. Hints of deep yearning pop up until they really boil over in the choruses.’
The way Yeah gently bubbles away, creating an earnest moment of raw reflection in the chorus, shows a wonderful sense of authenticity. Check it out, below: