HELLCAT BLOOM

It all started with a killer line: “You say that I look nice, while I’m counting all my worries on our kitchen knives.”

This intriguingly intimate lyric arose fully formed in the mind of Hellcat Bloom, the pseudonym of Oakland-based singer-songwriter Alex Avritch, as she was showering after work one day in 2021. She brought the idea to collaborator Arrica Rose, who immediately saw its potential, laying down a guitar part with a complimentary feel–pretty with an edge. Within a matter of minutes, the two had the seeds of what would become, “Happy (Guess I’m Fine Today).”

The song, like all of Hellcat Bloom’s creative output, revels in the dichotomy that’s true of most romantic relationships, art, and life itself. “I like to say we’re all multi-faceted human beings, and we aren’t just one thing, within a single moment, day, or year,” says Hellcat Bloom. “This music is a little bit old school, a little bit new, a nod to this, a nod to that. It’s almost like it’s built from all these perfect fragments of myself and Arrica that came together in this salty but sweet goodness that is the project.”

One of seven tracks on Hellcat Bloom’s elegantly crafted debut EP, Semi-Sweet (available on pOprOck records August 19), “Happy” embodies the project’s varied influences and cinematic scope. The song, and the entire EP, pull in elements from 60s girl groups, 90s indie-rock, and modern-day electropop, all wrapped up in a sheen of analog warmth. While the sound is ambitious and confident in its scope, it draws listeners close with the intimacy of lo-fi bedroom folk. Always at the forefront are nuanced lyrics that express the complicated emotions of a passionate love affair as it comes apart at the seams, captured in clever retorts and evocative scenes. Eclectic yet cohesive, melancholy yet carefree, bitter and sweet the EP is an expression of worlds and sounds gently colliding—from the laid-back, sunset-at-the-beach nostalgia of first single “Malibu,” to the anthemic indie rock anthem, “Love Is Strange,” and the sultry, noir slow burner, “Valley Eyes.” Always, the EP is anchored by Hellcat Bloom’s lilting vocals that belie the lyrics’ harsh honesty. As every breakup contains both roses and thorns, even the darkest songs are dressed up sweetly in ethereal synths and hypnotic loops, paired with live drums and dreamy guitars.

For Hellcat Bloom, her unique voice and sonic palate are the result of a lifelong striving toward authenticity. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, outside of Los Angeles, Hellcat Bloom came of age amid the entertainment industry. As a young girl, she dreamed of being a pop star. When she was old enough to audition, her mom gave into her pleading and took her to tryouts for American Juniors and America’s Most Talented Kid. Undaunted by the five-hour wait, amid hundreds of other precocious wannabes, she soon got a crash course in the realities of art as commerce. Wearing her bedazzled jean jacket, and belting out, “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, she was singing with gusto when her voice cracked. The judges cut her off mid-line. Even at age nine, she knew this wasn’t the dream for her. “I realized I didn’t want to have to be Disney perfect all the time, and I didn’t feel Disney perfect all the time. That’s where I started to go down this road of exploring writing and being this more iconoclastic artist…I needed to make art on my own terms, and I finally feel that’s what this project is.”

Leaning into self-expression through poetry, Hellcat Bloom was always writing and longing to express herself through music somehow. But as a mixed-race young woman who was more drawn to punk and indie rock than hip-hop or soul, she never really felt represented, even by her favorite artists. Until she was 14 that is, and fell under the spell of Fefe Dobson, who broke out in 2009 with emotive punk pop anthems like “Bye Bye Boyfriend.”

Since then, Hellcat Bloom has fed herself as a creator, moving to the Bay Area, forging a successful career in tech, and launching her own makeup startup. And now, she’s found that it’s when her voice cracks that she’s really winning, by truly expressing herself as an artist. Meeting Rose was the final ingredient in Hellcat Bloom’s growth as a songwriter. The two had a remarkable intimacy with each other, rapidly ping-ponging ideas until they’d built each new song in a matter of hours. The whole seven-song EP was written in weekly sessions over three to four months. They were surprised (but not really) to learn partway into their collaboration that the two had grown up in the same area. And that Rose’s dad was good friends with the father of the young man who had inspired these breakup songs. It explained their creative shorthand, and allowed them to lean into it even further, mind-melding with joy and ease.

But while the process was seamless it was never about taking the easy option. Quite the opposite; they wrestled with the lyrics. “I think something I learned in this whole process of working with Arrica was just to dig a little bit deeper. You can use the ugly notes. You can make it a little bit harsh and pretty at the same time. But don’t be afraid to push yourself deeper, past the poetry, to really get into the raw expression of what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Once the songs were written, they assembled their full lineup: Hellcat Bloom features Alex Avritch on vocals and songwriting duties; producer Arrica Rose on co-writing, rhythm guitars, backing vocals, synths, and loops; Marc Thomas on lead guitars; Mark W. Lynn on bass; and Ryan Brown on drums and percussion. The seven-song EP was recorded at Comp-ny in Los Angeles (Be Hussey engineering) and O2 and The Tree House in Oakland (Arrica Rose engineering). It was mixed and mastered by Dan Garcia at Radio Hill Santa Monica.

In the end, Hellcat Bloom knew when the project was fully realized, not because of a particular sonic moment or song, but because of the beautiful-but-complex whole. Always, with every lyric, every note, she’s aiming not just to entice listeners, but to move them. If it sounds like Hellcat Bloom is asking herself the big questions about art and life, she is. Not only because of her need to express herself through her music, but because of her desire to grow into an artist who can, in turn, be an inspiration for the next generation “It’s important to me in all facets of my life to carve a path for other creators of color, who want to be in the tech space, in the makeup space, in music,” she says. “While finding my own way, I want to make sure I’m doing my part to bring up as many seats at the table as I possibly can.”

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