Blush Always - An Ode To ? (2024)

Different, yet familiar: For her second album as Blush Always, Leipzig musician and songwriter Katja Seiffert puts the strengths of her debut album from last year in a new light. On "An Ode To ?", critical self-reflection and sensitive storytelling are increasingly replacing chronic self-doubt, and her indie rock sound finds its way from harsh urgency to catchy alternative pop with great ease.

Katja Seiffert makes music out of conviction. With the passionate self-empowerment songs of Blush Always's debut "You Deserve Romance", released in autumn 2023, she had playfully adapted the sound of 90s indie rock for the here and now, not only relying on irresistible melodies and captivating intensity, but also sounding, unlike many of her peers, like an artist whose love of music is greater than her desire to become famous.

Jakob Amr, whose band Leoniden Blush Always had paved the way early on, stopped by the studio for a day or two and three new songs were created. With BROCKHOFF, Katja wrote "Bigger Picture", a gentle hymn about friendship and favorite music, and Sophie Lindinger from My Ugly Clementine contributed a verse to "Enemy", which is about the madness of competitive envy in indie circles. The heartwarming "You Are My Favorite Place To Stay" is based on a sketchy demo by Pabst drummer Tore Knipping, who also took on drums, solo guitars and backing vocals during the recordings. In addition, musician friend Damian Dalla Torre contributed (bass) clarinet compositions to the spherical ballad "Lonely Things".

She again found support from Magnus Wichmann, who had already produced her first EP "Postpone" in 2022 and then her debut album, and this time was her only collaborator during the recordings. The urge to try things out for herself was simply greater, or as Katja puts it: "I wanted to know what it's like when more depends on me." As a result, on "An Ode To ?" production-technical finesse is more important than brilliant individual instrumental parts, which is particularly evident in songs like "Song About Drowning", inspired by Jeff Buckley's death. This ensures that the radiance of the songs themselves is even more in focus.

The result is an album that contains even more of Katja and her vision for Blush Always than in her first record, an album with which she confidently follows her own ideals and unswervingly sets her sights on a career in which longevity and sustainability are more valuable than a flash in the pan on the ladder of success. To be continued, open ending – or as she herself sings in “Time Of My Life”: “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.”