Holysseus Fly announces stunning new single ’Bloom’.

Arrives 7th July via Severn Songs.

Vocalist, co-writer and pianist with critically acclaimed collective, Ishmael Ensemble, Holysseus Fly has already made a powerful impression as a solo artist. Her debut single and ‘Bloom’ B-side, ‘Marigold’, which details her struggle and triumph in finding a new creative identity after surviving cancer, secured early tastemaker support from Annie Mac on her Chill Playlist and was Jamz Supernova’s ‘Hit Reset Track of the Day’ on 6 Music. 

With follow-up single ‘Within The Water’ (seen here discussing on ITV News) winning support from Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing Mixtape, as well as an audio walk feature on BBC 6 Music with Chris Hawkins, not to mention a sell-out first headline shows in Bristol and London at the end of last year, Holysseus Fly’s solo venture is blossoming at an impressive rate. 

The first song written for her debut EP, ‘Bloom’ sees Holysseus Fly taking ownership of her own creativity. Feeling a pressure in lockdown to write again after recovering from treatment for breast cancer, Holysseus sings ‘I’ll bloom when I choose to’, a statement of determination to create for only herself. Powerfully brought to life with a video shot by director Jack Lilley after her double mastectomy surgery, Holysseus Fly challenges negative perceptions of herself, taking ownership of her narrative, claiming her space and adorning her new body in paint like a living work of art. Sentiments are echoed sonically as ‘Bloom’ progresses from a skeletal beat through to a deep, harmonically-rich drop, driven by Holysseus Fly’s captivating vocal, encompassing both strength and beautiful vulnerability. 

‘Bloom’ is a remarkable window into what this stand-out artist has to offer, its breathtaking beauty will be available to all on 7th July and her debut EP ‘Birthpool’ follows later in the year on 3rd November when Holysseus Fly will also be embarking on a UK Tour. 

Holysseus Fly says: 

“Bloom is about taking ownership of my own creativity. Planting my creations into the ground and allowing them to grow without bashing them down. Understanding that I needed time away to learn and feel inspired, then when I was ready for flowers to bloom, I choose to plant them for myself. ‘Bloom’ describes the process of making my debut EP, de-weeding negative critical thoughts and feeding the ideas time, water and wine to allow them to bloom. 

The music video is a visual representation of this. At first you see the painters’ perception of me, I begin as their creation. When the song drops I take things into my own hands and write my own story.” 

Video director Jack Liley: 

“The metaphors are two fold within this video. Firstly if you think about a flower blooming, it starts off quite plain and hidden like a seed. It grows as a stem, and then in the right moment, when it’s ready, it explodes into amazing colour. That’s partly where the inspiration for the narrative of the video came from. 

Then with regards to Holly, we talked about how she was feeling when she wrote the song. The painters represent the nagging thoughts within her own head observing, waiting on and analysing

her. Then when she does explode into performance and music and the song drops, she has this amazing defiant power. She’s so much more powerful than they or how she had imagined. 

I’ve had the idea of Holly being painted within a still life class for ages, I loved how we adapted that to the song and the meaning. Cinematically we started off quite slow, controlled and intimate with movement. The end of the song became more free-flowing and the editing became distorted to show more of a creative burst.” 

For more information on Holysseus Fly please visit see below

Instagram I Spotify I TikTok

To read more about Holysseus Fly, head over to our full-length artist feature here.