What Blooms - Fabricated Dreams EP

​What Blooms

Fabricated Dreams EP
self-released; 2017

​3.5 out of 5

By Dan Weston

 Julian Alvarado is the person behind the project What Blooms. He started playing piano at four and a guitar at thirteen. Fabricated Dreams EP is his first effort which contains four songs. 

It's a complete DIY project. The production quality is about standard for a typical bedroom artist. I can't say the quality is close to a professional recording from a studio but it does give you an idea of his style. One thing I need to mention is the overuse of reverb. Alvarado pours reverb on almost everything. It makes the mixes muddy and everything seems like it's in the distance. For example, I had a lot of trouble understanding any of the lyrics. 

He opens with “Welcome” which revolves around a steady, unchanging beat and reverb laced guitars. The build up is slight and mostly just leads to atmosphere. At around the two-and-a-half- minute mark the song fades out and is followed by odd vocal muttering. 

“Fright Nite” has a similar energy to the opener but contains vocals. It's the highlight but I felt it ended prematurely. I wanted the song to go in more places. Up next is “Her Typhoon of the Heart” which is a very low energy song that feels like a sedative. There is a bit of a Mac Demarco vibe here but even more of a drowsy feeling. The energy does not change either for the entire five minutes. 

Alvarado ends on a high note with “Egg Joke.” There is a more apparent shoegaze vibe here and I thought the drums sounded better. 

​Alvarado certainly shows some potential. The production needs to improve if he hopes to compete with popular musical acts and he may want to consider working with an engineer at some point. Overall, I think he has some talent but falls into a case of wait and see.

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