New Year, New Bloom Cardinal Bloom discusses their plans for 2023.

As we say goodbye to 2022, it’s time to start envisioning what’s to come for this new year. Cardinal Bloom, an indie rock band based in Utah, predicts they will be “going full ham” in 2023, with new music and the possibility of an album and tour.

Made up of Joey St. John (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Thomas (lead guitar), Jacob Silvester (vocals, bass) and Nathan Adair (drums), the Salt Lake City band says they have evolved like a Pokémon since they first formed over three years ago.

The band’s most recent single, “Under the Oak Tree,” is much different from their usual “sad boy hour” sound and shares an optimistic message with their listeners.

The band played the song for the first time on the final night of Velour Battle of the Bands in December 2021. Many questioned the band if their decision to play a new song was smart, but they proved it was a stroke of genius when they were deemed winners of the competition.

“No one had heard it,” St. John says. “Maybe just the neighbors, but that’s about it. We saved it for the finals night and everyone was kind of like, ‘That’s kind of stupid. You guys are gonna play a song no one’s heard before as your final song on your final night at battle of the bands?’ But I think it was the edginess of it all, and we thought it was a good song, so that was kind of a fun moment.”