Blueboy

City of Origin: Reading, UK

Period of Activity: Mid/late 1990s, reunited as of 2024

Members: Keith Girdler (deceased), Paul Stewart, Gemma Townley, Harvey Williams, Mark Cousens, Lloyd Haggar (former), Martin Rose)

Related Artists: Another Sunny Day, Beaumont, Feverfew, The Field Mice

Discography:

Social Media: Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter

Blueboy are one of my all-time favorite indiepop bands when it comes to making pretty music. On their first two albums, Keith Girdler and Paul Stewart were already masters of bossa nova-inflected songwriting, plus they were adding to it with a bit of jangle pop and a cello. The result is music that feels lighter than air, but still substantial; you could never use it as background music because you'd find yourself paying too much attention. But Blueboy's real secret weapon is that they could be an all-out rock band too, when they wanted. It was never something that came up all too often, but when it did, it would somehow manage to surpass the rest.

As of the time of writing, Blueboy has been back together for less than a year, and have recently put out a new single. Unfortunately, but as one would expect, it doesn't have the same magic that Keith Girdler managed to capture. But there's enough promise to it that we can expect Blueboy to find their way soon enough. Hopefully they'll be making more masterpieces in the future.