Thomas Cohen's debut solo album feels like the first of many

S.C.U.M emerged as part of the dark underbelly of bands who crept around the shadows of East London in the late Noughties, where landfill indie was on its last legs and barely able to struggle any further forward. Creators of a solemn single album Again Into Eyes, they were a key part of a scene some labelled "Darkwave", but their psychedelic art rock never found much favour with those outside of the capital.

While three members went and formed the psychedelic led Astral Pattern, frontman Thomas Cohen has in later years become more known for his personal life than the music he makes, and it's hard to listen to Bloom Forever and get away from the idea that those experiences have directly fed into and influenced the sounds captured on his debut solo turn.

Opener "Honeymoon" may open with a similar reverb-heavy guitar strum to goofy Canadian troubadour Mac De Marco, but it soon becomes abundantly clear that Bloom Forever is a very serious affair, as crooned vocals float over a hazy mix of restrained basslines and drum rolls before a jazz-tinged saxophone adds to the solemn mood.

There’s a sadness that hangs over the entirety of this creative reintroduction, from the bluesy vibes of "County Home" that recal Van Morrison, and Scott Walker on the slightly more uplifting "No Rain". Elsewhere, "Only Us" is the kind of mature, haunting piano ballad that magnetically draws one in with its stark beauty.

By the culmination of these nine songs, it’s hard to not be left with the impression that Bloom Forever is an album that Thomas Cohen really needed to make, and make public.