Dreamy lo-fi indie guitar tones and honest vocals guide us into something ambient but organic, as musician and songwriter Charlie Bulmer introduces the authenticity and passion of his music, with worn out sweater.
Electric guitar lightly strummed and picked for a shoegaze aura, elevated by vocals that meander between two-tone indie melodies and rap-like spoken segments, presents a story of intimacy and vivid imagery akin to the memories that light up a lasting relationship.
The sound is gentle but raw, the production smooth but the vocal genuine and unfiltered – the storytelling too represents a sense of realness and identity that resounds and connects throughout the Charlie Bulmer catalogue.
For songs like Morphine, the emotional purity, the long-form diary-like expressions, and the gentle lo-fi tones continue to ground things amidst the familiar artistry, but otherwise Bulmer leans into the hip hop influence more distinctly here, and the track is captivating for its poetic imagery, relatable ideas, scornful realism, and natural pain and possibility all intertwined.
The song builds up the intensity slowly but surely throughout, resolving quite beautifully for a mildly anthemic and addictive hook. This is an alternative indie highlight that feels brilliantly distinct, human, and personalised, particularly amidst today’s ocean of AI-generated slop.
Later on, versatility rings more loudly, as the pop-punk guitar tone and gritty vocal of Too Bizarre injects pure energy and pace. The vocals are unmistakable now, unedited and fearless in pouring this story and painful past into the process, and the track gathers momentum towards an infectious and explosive crescendo.
Think emo-rock meets Jamie T with a twist of something poetic and smart to the honest framing of ideas. Bulmer holds nothing back, the music feels like a therapeutic expression of struggle, a search for answers and clarity, and in turn, it gifts that same sense of outcry and resolution or understanding to the listener.
In 2024, Charlie Bulmer released the EP Story That Never Started, from which the title song laid bare a kind of intricate fusion of indie rock brightness and lyrical heartache. There’s poignancy in the words, and subtle pain in the delivery, but this is countered by clear moments of hope and a catchy groove.
This same EP also gave us the piano-led acoustic number When I Had You, where Charlie Bulmer’s honest and imperfect vocal style presented as tender and calming, with poetic imagery and personal anecdotes seeming perfectly balanced amidst the serenity and wonder of a fireside performance.
2024 also concluded with a second EP of similar themes. Story That Ended featured the gorgeous track After You / After Us, portraying a moment of heartfelt poetry, pain, and vulnerability. That’s the essence of much of this music, in fact – Charlie Bulmer’s willingness to be entirely open and revealing, a kind of fearless commitment to the craft, which is something that truly can’t be faked.
The more you listen, the deeper you fall into these playlists, the harder the impact of the songs. It’s an intimate to intense expression of relationship turmoil and stories that pierce through the mundanities of daily life, no matter how much time has passed. That humanity is essential in today’s indie music realm, and there’s a defiant level of emotional depth, character, and lyrical skill to everything Charlie Bulmer has released so far.
Find Charlie Bulmer on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Apple.
