Let’s start this off by clearing something up: we’re by no means saying that there haven’t been good appearances in the Live Lounge of late but, in terms of the calibre of covers to have ever graced BBC Radio, this Blossoms and Rick Astley collab is one of the best we’ve heard in years.
Blossoms and Rick Astley have become firm friends and have performed together on multiple occasions in recent times – most famously performing a number of The Smiths classics back in 2021 – so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when we saw him joining them at the Radio 1 studios earlier this week.
The Newton-le-Willows-born singer even featured in videos as well as promo clips for their latest album Gary, which went straight to number one back in September, and now his latest crossover comes in one of the coolest little remixes the Live Lounge has been given for a while.
Please enjoy Charli XCX‘s ‘360’, the lead single from her smash-hit record, Brat, bleeding seamlessly into ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust.
Really, is this Blossoms with Rick Astley covering ‘The Music Sounds Better With You’?
Oh yes…. pic.twitter.com/9qri48GKJ2
— Dave Haslam (@Mr_Dave_Haslam) October 14, 2024
Come on, how clever is that?
The first time we saw this clip reposted on social we didn’t even know Rick was going to pop up towards the end but boy are we glad we did it.
After Blossoms frontman Tom Odgen delivers his pared-down performance of one electronic pop song, the 59-year-old effortlessly sidles up to sing the other, even putting a bit of gruff behind that chorus.
With Josh Dewhurst blending the two tracks perfectly with that instantly recognisable little guitar riff, it’s like the listener gets that exciting moment of realising where the remixed cover is going – a feeling we’ve not had from a Live Lounge session in some time.
Not only does it work as a split but it also works because those key tones and the simple but catchy acoustic progression running throughout do feel very Blossoms, and if there’s one thing that outlines a great BBC Radio Live Lounge it’s an artist covering an iconic track whilst still sounding like themselves.
We tend to agree with these guys – though we still stan Soft Play’s (a.k.a. Slaves) cover of Shutdown by Skepta with a fierce passion.
Had to update the @BBCR1 Live Lounge ranking after @BlossomsBand, lives were changed pic.twitter.com/uNvrRmKXl3
— Keira Knox (@KeiraKnox06) October 16, 2024
blossoms’ live lounge is genuinely one of my favourite things; covering 360 is possibly one of the best things they’ve done
— carina 🫶🏻 (@menswear_styles) October 15, 2024
blossoms never miss with a live lounge
— lu ≅ (@ptghfender) October 14, 2024
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It’s also worth noting that this isn’t even the first time the Stockport boys have nailed a Live Lounge performance as their 2017 cover of ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent still live rent-free in our heads too.
We really enjoyed their performance of their ‘Perfect Me’, ‘There’s A Reason Why’ and ‘I Like Your Look’ on the day too and the whole session served as yet another reminder of how the local lads really are on top form.
It also begs the question: are they up there with the best Live Loungers ever?…
You can watch the rest of Blossoms‘ Live Lounge performances over the years down below:
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Featured Images — BBC Radio 1 (via YouTube)
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