Bloom, the new album by Larkin Poe. Courtesy of Larkin Poe
Larkin Poe, the band fronted by sisters Megan and Rebecca Lovell have a new album Bloom, out January 24, that testifies to the multitudes of music they contain, from ballads to rockers, from roots to country, from confessional to anthemic. It showcases Larkin Poe not just maturing but stretching in their songwriting, singing, and performing. On Bloom, they allow themselves to be more vulnerable, more honest, and in doing so, no less authentic.
Although barely in their 30s, the Lovell sisters have been performing for almost two decades. More than half their lives have been on stage, on tour, and in the studio. They launched Larkin Poe as deep blues enthusiasts and came to be known as part of the American Roots Rock movement. But like many an artist before them, from Bob Dylan to Taylor Swift, they have arrived at a point where they no longer want to be siloed. Or, as it was so eloquently put in Dirty Dancing, “No one puts Baby in a corner”
Larkin Poe are no longer just a well-kept secret among musicians and music people. In 2024, they won a Grammy for their last album Blood Harmony. They appear on Ringo Starr’s forthcoming album, and recently backed T-Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello when they appeared on Late Night. And this weekend they are performing at the Opry, the high church of country music in Nashville.
Bloom feels like they took the stage at your favorite honky-tonk to perform a showcase just for you. The album opens with Mockingbird, a straight-ahead blues rocker that might lull you into thinking this is another Blues-slinging record. The next track, Easy Love, Part One, would have you think they are channeling The Eagles (they backed Don Henley at MusicCares in 2017) but the song is more of a Bonnie Raitt-like rocker. Little Bit is the kind of ballad you could imagine Sheryl Crow performing, it’s a bit softer and slower than Larkin Poe’s usual high-octane numbers which, if that’s your jam, Nowhere Fast is a prime example.
What distinguishes these songs are their honesty – they seem to come straight from the sisters without posture or pretense. Although in the past Rebecca and Megan often composed songs separately, they wrote the songs on the album together, sometimes with their co-producer, Tyler Bryant, of Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown (who is also Rebecca’s husband).
On Bloom, Larkin Poe moves from Americana to Southern Rock and to straight out country. Fool Out of Me will be at home on stage at the Ryman. It’s a song about not wanting to believe in the cynicism that ‘You’ll never make it with your heart on your sleeve…” to which the song offers its own rebuke: “What do I know? Make a fool out of me.”
The title track, Bloom, which concludes the album is another straight-up ballad, which could even pass for an early Lennon-McCartney heartstring puller.
In a recent interview for No Depression, Megan describes where they set the bar on Bloom. “I think that a lot of these songs aren’t where we’ve ended up; they’re mantras for where we want to get to,” Megan said. “I think there’ll be really good reminders of where we are now and the hopes that we have for the future.”
I feel the same way about Bloom. Larkin Poe are definitely spreading their wings, and the album represents a serious leap forward in styles, sound, and lyrics. But is it as good as Larkin Poe can be? Is it the summit? No way.
I believe in Larkin Poe making music that you can’t forget and that over time, others will want to cover, but that will remain their signature even as they continue to evolve. On Bloom, I found some song lyrics too on the nose, and in others, such as If God is a Woman, I saw potential for a song that could have been both more imaginative and still truer than what they wrote.
But, to quote Larkin Poe, “What do I know, make a fool out of me.” They already have their response to me in their song Pearls where they sing, “You try to tell me what to do, you try to tell me what to don’t/ I do what I want when I want……I don’t tell you how to sing you words, keep your pearls”
