Alt-Rock Supergroup Blush Releases ‘Supercrush’, A Debut Album With Plenty Of Heart

Blush pen their interpretations of love songs on Supercrush (Credit: Nicholas Kent Tann)

Two years ago, we featured Blush on our Rising Arp series, spotlighting them as ones to watch with big things to come. If you’d discovered them then, you would’ve caught on to the glimmer in their fledgling sound, navigating across a wide ambit of alt-rock not unlike rummaging through your old ’90s cassette tape drawer. It was sentimental yet rejuvenating, breathing new life into a recycled echelon of rock music that continues to enjoy its re-rinse. Blush isn’t bashful about its influences, but it’s this derivative methodology that’s helped the homegrown outfit gain momentous success.

Despite enduring some lineup adjustments, Blush has remained a supergroup of sorts, with members from peak-level bands such as Sobs, Cosmic Child, Forests and Marijannah. In the couple of years that they’ve been together, the quartet has landed noteworthy opening performances for Softcult and Turnover, and they’ve toured Japan and Thailand including a headlining show with Tokyo’s To’morrow Records. Fast forward to today, their progress has now culminated in a debut album signed to No Sleep Records, the Californian emo and indie label that’s released works from La Dispute, The Wonder Years and Funeral for a Friend.

Blush’s debut record is a nostalgic alt-rock homage (Credit: Nicholas Kent Tann)

Supercrush is the triumphant export that’s been putting Singapore’s alt-rock scene on the global map. Released earlier this month, the album is described as “a collection of imperfect love songs”, and it’s punctuated with a bounty of Blush’s sonic signatures and then some.

“All I Wanna Do” resembles a burst of sunny rays peeping through a fog of subdued ferocity, grounded by a flowy, un-showy duet that paints the picture of juvenile romance. “Hide and Seek” is a glorious shoegaze crawl, drifting torpidly with the band’s dense currents, paced with a lethargic yet patient tempo and coloured with cherubic organs. The previously-released “Crush” begins with a sludgy, slowed-down introduction, before ripping through the muck with a revived alt-rock jam festooned with dollops of distortion and waves of reverb. And in stark yet superb contrast, you have “Floorplan” –  a forlorn lullaby with clearer guitars, crisp drums and a more pronounced bass presence, showing that Blush can still pack power in sparse arrangements.

Blush have stuck to their guns with time-tested consistency while exploring uncharted avenues along the way. And it’s made for an outstanding debut album that’s paid off.

Listen to Supercrush by Blush on Bandcamp and Spotify. Follow their Instagram page to stay updated with their activities.