Latest Lotus Album Blossoms With New Sonic Directions for the Jamtronic Band

When we spoke with Lotus guitarist/keys player Luke Miller in April, the jamtronic band was on its way to play its favorite venue, Red Rocks. Although it was an unusually frigid night, Lotus kept the crowd captivated through the encore, when it debuted the brand-new, synth-heavy and bouncy single "Pluck."

But that was just a tease of what was to come on Lotus's new album, Bloom & Recede, which drops on all major streaming services on Friday, August 26.

The album opens with "Desert Blooms," which signals that the band is leaning more into the modular synths that make the next song, "Pluck," so bubbly. But these offerings, while driven by synth, tilt back into more familiar territory for Lotus listeners with ripping, anthemic solos from guitarist Tim Palmieri that can have listeners drifting back into a daydream of nostalgia, longing and hope.

"'Desert Blooms' is maybe the most different," Miller acknowledges. "It's more heavy on synth, bass and this looping synth arpeggio. But the guitar is a little bit more or less of a lead instrument on that track."

In keeping with the band's oeuvre, each song on Lotus's new album acts as a sonic landscape. Forget the viral "Lofi Hip-Hop Radio: Beats to Study and Relax To": Bloom & Recede will be your new resort for music that encourages both quiet and relaxation while still activating buoyancy and joyful motivation. "Pacific Glow," which Miller says is his favorite track on the album, has the classic Lotus sound, delivering both peace and energy, evoking images of sunshine sparkling on water, the curving road of Big Sur and rustling jacarandas.
The album was made during the pandemic, and Miller says that its overall sound was almost responding to that dire time. "There was kind of an escapism," he explains. "Let's try to make something that's joyful and energetic, because it was hard to gin that up at the time. But then I feel like some of the walk-down melancholy snuck in there. When I listen to it, there's this joyful feeling, but there's a little bit of a dark undercurrent that kind of sneaks."

And with Lotus's inarguable technical, almost machine-like acumen — the kind that made a friend remark at Red Rocks that this would be the group to play an Apple headquarters New Year's Eve party — the band intricately balances those brooding undertones with fast-paced percussion and soaring guitar. When it comes to instrumental music, though, the tough part about compiling an album is making sure each song is unique.

"There are these threads that connect," Miller notes. "Going through the songs, I realized I use the same four chords a lot through the album, but they're always in a different order. So I think that kind of gives these subtle through-lines to the album. But then [we're] just working over and over to get variety. We're listening to them a lot to see if they sound repetitive to us; then we'll try to change something."

The band is already working on its next album. "We wrote these songs for way back in 2020. So we were kind of anxious to start working on new stuff," Miller explains. "Even though they're new to the world, we've been sitting on them for a bit."

Colorado will be able to see Lotus in action, demonstrating its new material during a two-night run at Mishawaka Amphitheatre on September 9 and 10. In the meantime, you can kick back, relax, and soak up its latest release.

Bloom & Recede is available Friday, August 26. Lotus plays Mishawaka Amphitheatre, 13714 Poudre Canyon Boulevard in Bellvue, September 9-10; get tickets here.