Master of morphing between personas, Lord Felix invites us to bump, bounce, and reflect through a brazen blend of genres while he navigates the ebb and flow of growing pains.
Hailing from Brockton, Lord Felix (the masked rapper) attracted love from the masses with his bold take on Kaytandra’s “Weight off,” which was released back in 2016. He has since continued to grow his catalog of protean productions while developing his own version of identity through his musical offerings. Felix composed In Bloom, Forever with one particular summer in mind; that summer served as an ode to a season that seemed to flow in every direction. With help from his closest collaborators via the Van Buren collective, Felix slips from bright and bouncy to woeful and waning with an impressive ease. As fragments of his story tether together, Felix’s personal score outlines a sliver of solace in life’s unpredictability. He emphasizes the idea of impermanence, the strengths and shortcomings that greet you with growth, and all of the noise in between.
Drenched in doleful reverby guitars, “Love is Fleeting, I promise” is a dreamy shoegaze-like prelude where Felix introduces the overarching theme of this project: the story of a love found, turned love lost. He raps, “right woman, not the perfect time/spent my whole summer waiting on you/only ever trip to free my mind.” Mourning what could have been, this doleful ballad sets a dim tone- but Felix does not stop here. Midway down the tracklist, he continues to let memories resurface atop Elton John’s, “Bennie and the Jets” signature piano keys on “The Worst Summer Ever”. Spirited and cutting keys slice the air as Felix recounts the moment that they met: “Now you in my life unannounced/now you got me walkin’ with a bounce” to the moment that they fell apart, “Now it’s why we being distant/and why you be acting so different?… this is the worst summer ever!” he cries. A tender moment turns sour as his rose-colored glasses shatter. The summer sprouts into a full view of Felix’s mental innards as his verses spin and spiral; it is more than just a tragic love story.
Dispirited verses delivered with a buoyant bounce allow Felix to explore the complexity of erratic emotions as his love story gives way. However, on tracks like “Spring/Summer ‘99” and “Off Fifth” the rhythm picks up, and Felix paves a path of trap-like beats, but this rebound only revives him for so long. Just a few tracks later, Felix shifts his sights to another part of this love story: the other guy. On “Him,” dispirited trumpets sink Felix into an abyss where it is too dark to dance as he spits, “I want you but you want him and/you like me but I’m not him damn,” but this isn’t where his story ends. On his outro track, “Wilting,” which features a fellow-member of rap collective Van Buren, Jvdas, Felix heads into dejection over this broken love. A vengeful beat fans the flames of rage and regret and Felix shouts, “I hate you, I hate you, that can’t be overstated,” and the transition from self-pity to anger takes shape.
Touring through the major attractions of this summer’s story, In Bloom, Forever reads like a movie; each track’s production relies on the story it holds. Whether it’s finding love, losing love, or everything in-between, this is a work entirely governed by emotion. As this album persists, there is a fixation on the concept of growth. Through this intricate palette of sounds, Felix invites us to find comfort in life’s fluidity.