The Vamps' New Album Proves That They've 'Blossomed' Into A New Era​

The Vamps is an English pop-rock band who formed by finding each other through social media nearly a decade ago. They got signed with Virgin EMI Records in 2012, and since then, they've been on the grind nonstop with 5 EPs, 3 albums, and 17 tours! They'd write some music, then go on tour, then write even more music, and then go on tour again - a cycle that's nonstop once you get into the music industry. But after their last world tour, they wanted to take some time to themselves to enjoy the art of traveling and take in some of the Japanese culture that was around them, since their last show was in Japan. From here, the inspiration of their fourth studio album, "Cherry Blossom," blossomed in their minds.

On the band's Instagram account, they described the meaning behind the title of their new album, saying:

"Cherry Blossom represents the transient, fragility and brilliance of life. The album stands for rebirth and new beginnings while being proud of what has been. It's about letting go of inhibitions and immersing yourself in something new. We've poured our hearts into these songs and we want them to be therapy and elation for you all, just like they have been for us."

With previous albums and EPs, The Vamps drew inspiration from other artists and worked with large groups of people. However, with this particular album, the band wanted to shake things up a bit, so they decided to rent a few Airbnbs for just the four of them. They focused on themselves by finding a sense of "self" within the band (since they haven't had the opportunity to since their career took off eight years ago with Virgin EMI Records), and they figured out the direction they wanted to take for their fourth album. With it being just the four of them, they were able to dig deeper for new and true inspirations within themselves.

The album starts off with the song "Glory Days," and in an interview with Euphoria, "Glory Days" is described as a song that's all "about putting away technology in this technology dependent world, especially our phones, and living in the moment to appreciate what's happening around us." I believe beginning the album with this song was the perfect fit, since the band took two years to focus on themselves as a band without any outside distractions.

The Vamps decided to release "Married In Vegas" as their lead single back in July, and after reading why they chose to do so, it just proves that the band really did focus on channeling inspiration from within instead of from the outside. "Married In Vegas" was not initially planned to be a part of the new album. In fact, it was actually made after they had already sent the album to their record label, but I sure am glad they decided to include it! In the same interview, Brad Simpson, the lead singer and guitarist, explains the song a bit:

"We needed to come back with a song that embodies us as a band. It's got the live drums [Tristian Evans], got the live guitars [James McVey and Connor Ball], and a boatload of energy which we have in the live shows, so it felt like the right first single."

Also in the interview, a couple of the bandmates opened up about how this album is different from any of their previous music. Tristan stated:

"This one is completely different. I think it's just a different direction of production, more maturity with the songwriting and the lyrics. I think the visuals are completely different from what we've done before from the music video to the album cover art. We wanted to take our fans to different worlds, you know, we wanted to introduce something unique and what we're about. And "Cherry Blossom" is exactly how we're feeling, it's exactly what our vibe is. It's just very different and an obvious new chapter in The Vamps."

And James followed up, stating:

"I think having the time away, as I was saying before, really helped us think about the themes in our lives that are important to us. This album touches upon themes of relationships and love that we hadn't spoken about before, and there's a vulnerability in some of the songs, like 'Protocol' [a song that James started himself about 'exploring the darkest regions of your mind and acknowledging the implications and consequences of selfishness,' according to James on an Instagram post] and 'Treading Water.'"

This all resulted in a whole new era of The Vamps that they like to call the 'rebirth' of The Vamps.