EP REVIEW: Flowers for Juno – Be My Bloody Valentine

For the first rock / metal review in the history of my Fiverr gig (FINALLY!!), I’ll be sharing my thoughts on “Be My Bloody Valentine”, the debut EP from Newcastle upon Tyne gothic rock / metal band Flowers for Juno. Released on…..you guessed it…..Valentine’s Day, this project is the brainchild of band members Benjó James (vocalist) and Jack Wilson (musician).

The EP’s cover and promotional artwork for its singles “Physical Culture” and “It’s Not My Fault” involve these old portrait photos of female models with a hot pink gradient applied to them. Like the decrepit building at the center of many gothic horror stories, these photos are reminders of the past, a simpler time when relationships weren’t as complex and complicated as they usually are now. And this distinct colour gradient represents Flowers for Juno’s warped, cynical and intriguingly fatalistic perspective on love that is the literal beating heart of this project.

On the subject of gothic horror and decrepit buildings, you can picture Flowers for Juno performing their three songs (yes, I know this is a six-track EP, but more on that in a bit) within the interior of an archaic – haunted, if you will – mansion or castle. There is a ‘performance’ element to this EP, as after the intro “Dead Air” which starts with 23 seconds of…. you guessed it….DEAD AIR and concludes with a Greenwich Time Signal, we’re treated to what sounds like an underground radio broadcast of a Valentine’s Day-themed performance from the band hosted by an unnamed MC.  

The band’s ‘set’ begins with the first single “Physical Culture” and I love how the song builds for a few seconds near the end of the MC’s introduction and EXPLODES with a barrage of thunderous guitars and tense synths! Utilizing some creepy vocal inflections and genuinely dark lyrics, Benjó James effectively sets the tone and themes of the EP. He states that our human desire for love and affection will inevitably lead to our demise, citing the current heartbreak he’s experiencing and inability to move on as a major example (“Broken trust fills endless graves / Deep buried by the pain”). The only solution he can come up with is to run away from that innate desire and live out the rest of his days in loneliness guised as emotional safety. And yet he seeks the meaning behind the breakup he’s pining over or at least a confirmation that some sort of reconciliation is possible, as emphasized on the song’s catchy hook.

The past and the present coalesce on the following song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” which, if you know your ballads, is exactly what you think it is. Over a moody instrumental driven by spacey, 80s retro synths, Benjó sings a brief cover of the timeless Elvis Presley song. The minor scale he uses for his vocal delivery and the slight distortion added to his voice add to the already-creepy vibe of the song. In a remarkably cynical way, this cover shows how the sentiment of that song back when it was recorded in 1961 – and to an extent, the EXCELLENT UB40 cover back in 1993 – is practically non-existent in this strange world Flowers for Juno inhabit. A part of me wishes the song could’ve continued on for a bit longer, incorporating the chorus and third verse, but I do admire how crystal clear its sardonic message is throughout its short runtime.

Segueing beautifully from “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is the second single “It’s Not My Fault”, whose soaring opening synth lead and cinematic-sounding combination of guitars and drums create this sense of hope beaming into the life of Benjó at this point on the record. On this track, the desire for love he condemned earlier is enveloping him in this warm light and though he fears the fleeting nature of this sensation, he wants to stay in that light – and in the care of this new romantic partner of his – a bit longer. The only complaint I have about this track is the filter added to Benjó’s vocals on the hook which make them sound a bit indiscernible over the rousing production. But as the EP’s most heartfelt and optimistic song, “It’s Not My Fault” ABSOLUTELY WORKS!

And just when you think everything’s going to be okay for our lovelorn anti-hero, we get the last two tracks “Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist, wrapped in blood!” and “Physical Culture (Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil Remix)”. After the MC closes off Flowers for Juno’s performance at the end of “It’s Not My Fault”, the penultimate track begins with this soothing, almost heavenly instrumental which blankets the same dead air sound effect from the EP’s intro. Here, the band makes a radical switch from gothic rock to experimental and ambient music, beginning with this track’s surreal production and continuing with a repeated couplet, delivered in a forward-reverse-forward manner that should sound familiar to those who remember the classic TV series “Twin Peaks” (if not, look up the “Red Room”). It’s certainly a weird change of pace on the record and one that I imagine will polarize some listeners. But thanks to its purposefully morbid title, I came out of this track with two interpretations. The first is Benjó finally letting go of the past and embracing his desire to be with his new partner. However, there’s a blink-and-you-miss-it sound effect near the end of the track that reveals a dark and DEEPLY unsettling layer hiding in plain sight! And while I won’t reveal what that sound effect is (you’ll just have to vibe out to this track until you hear it), I will say – and this is my second interpretation – that this newfound love, or the lack given or received, leads to Benjó’s downfall on the record.

And this leads to the closing track “Physical Culture (Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil Remix)” which not only hints at the FATE of Benjó’s character but returns to the EP’s thematic merging of past and present elements. Guest producer Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil delivers the polar opposite of the ethereal production of “Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist, wrapped in blood!”, with a bleak, sparse and incredibly unnerving soundscape. Through some masterful mixing, we hear the echoed vocals of “Physical Culture” faintly in the distance, constantly overpowered by the rumbling distortion of Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil’s instrumental. The ambiguity of this track is BRILLIANT as many interpretations can be pulled from it. Two came to my mind: Benjó is finally in the place where those who gave themselves completely into love, desire and lust ultimately find themselves (call it hell or purgatory) or his desire to be loved has now become a faint memory, a relic of the past, now immortalized in the recording of a Flowers for Juno performance played on an underground radio station every Valentine’s Day.

Despite the few flaws I mentioned, I really enjoyed this EP! In addition to being a highly entertaining showcase of the multi-talented Flowers for Juno, it presents themes and concepts that I imagine will be explored even further in their future discography. For one, I would love to see that radio show/station concept expanded upon as it was such a great foundation for this EP to build itself from. And even though Valentine’s Day 2024 has already ended, that doesn’t mean you can’t dive into this record when the need for dark, twisted musical examinations of love and heartbreak arises. In short, open your heart – literally and/or figuratively – to “Be My Bloody Valentine”.

OVERALL RATING: 7 out of 10

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