Welcome Break. Pip Blom

Pip Blom is ready to release its second album. The one that is often so hard to make. The alternative rock band from The Netherlands is able to claim a certain level of success across our borders and especially on the other side of the pond we call the North Sea.

Where second albums are concerned, things are different for bands recording and writing during the Covid pandemic. Where relentless touring, fatigue and overload of the senses can lead to second album stress, often in combination with stress concerning expectations and pressure from the business side to come up with the same album that led to a breakthrough, for many bands resulted in a cramped second album, in 2020 and 2021 there was little to no touring and time was on everyone's side. In fact the world is hearing music it would never have heard. How are things with Pip Blom?

Having listened to Welcome Break, what's in a title?, it seems that to all opportunities and purposes Pip Blom has used the time Covid brought to the best of its abilities. The sound on the album is one of a band on a mission. The mix of alternative pop and rock is extremely balanced. Lovers of both sides get a slice of the pie Pip Blom is serving.

The album starts with the single that already received justified attention on the blog. 'You Don't Want This' is the kind of song that makes one want to dance. It has so much energy contained within it, takes the pressure off to build towards a final glorious chorus. It shows how much growth Pip Blom shows on Welcome Break.

'Boat', released in 2019, was a nice album. I've played the album with pleasure but not through and through. Something changed in the two years that passed by since. Welcome Break is not so much a different album. The band hasn't changed course. It has simply improved itself and in some spots almost beyond recognition. There's a huge amount of confidence that can be discerned in the power of the presentation. No one holds back. Not in the sense of songs that cook up a storm from the first second until the final note dies out after 40 minutes. No, it is in the sense that the musicians play so self-assured, so full of confidence. Just listen to another song released as a single first, 'Keep It Together'. You will hear the band playing with the bounderies of the song, themselves and the power they have within their grasp. To succeed in creating a song of power that is totally catchy. And succeed the band did.

What I will admit to, is that it took me three listening sessions to get into the pace of the album. This had more to do with my mindset, looking in hindsight. Too much going on between my mind and the music. From that third session onwards, the album grew and kept doing so. At this point I cannot imagine not having the physical album in the home when it is released in the winter of 2022. Things can be as simple as that.

With Welcome Break, also take a serious look at the artwork, as it is art and not just work, Pip Blom sets the ideal step forward in its career. Now we can only hope the band can tour at least some to shift enough units to allow it to continue towards that rewarding third album.

Wout de Natris