Yuck guitarist Max Bloom recorded his debut solo album Perfume following a painful breakup and a move back into his family home after 10 years of independence. Bloom pivoted to a more intimate, downtempo sound with unadorned vocals, influenced by the likes of George Harrison and Harry Nilsson, following three blown-out indie rock albums with Yuck. The result is a contemplative record that pivots between sunny melancholia, tongue-in-cheek humor and good old-fashioned yearning, and Bloom’s perky guitar work lightens the mood. “I decided to call the album Perfume because of how powerful smell can be,” Bloom says. “For me anyway, smelling a familiar smell can send me back in time like no other sense can. And when I smelled a jumper she had left behind, it brought everything back again.”
I never thought that I’d be releasing the album in these circumstances, but there you go. However dire the global situation, I never considered delaying the release. Partly because I think it’s important now more than ever for musicians to be putting their art into the world, but also because this plan has been years in the making, and nothing was going to get in the way.
The Fat Angel Sings 