Craig Claro
- Aug 9, 2023
- 3 min read

Bluhm Unveils "I'm Not Okay" - Mesmerizing Dream Pop from Detroit's Finest

BLUHM “I'm Not Okay" The Cage, a music blog powered by Cage Riot — Photo courtesy of BLUHM

Bluhm releases, “I'm Not Okay,” and I liked this song, but I liked it even MORE like I liked my 1996 Jeep more after the first kiss and a bag of chips (not all my shit makes sense in the beginning and that makes the review more interesting for later... right? - oh just agree with me and read on).

This dreamy pop song kicks in pretty quick with a catchy beat and nice vocals..... This great song checks all the boxes for a song to recommend to friends.

But does it have more?

“I'm Not Okay”, is the anti-anthem's anthem. I can't think of how many times over a lifetime we are asked, "How are you?" or "Are you ok?" and I would estimate the normal person is lying at least 25% of the time. People are sad, people are depressed, overworked, lacking love, and just overall need "something", and we always say, "I'm fine". This false response lessens and devalues the emotions we are truly feeling. If we always say "I'm fine", we are teaching ourselves and others to accept the uncomfortable. It seems that if I meet a stranger and they ask about my emotional well being they should be willing to hear the truth and not a facade or flat-out lie.

Bluhm decided to just come out and tell us, “I’m Not Okay,” This lyrical declaration was exciting to me because it was just plain and simple. There's no hidden wording about the relationships they want you to know about that have gone bad or someone's longing for a lost love. It's just a laundry list of emotions and the release of their feelings on these topics and no untangling of the meaning is needed... and this instantly allowed me to connect with the message of this song. I'm not always ok and I felt more "normal" (whatever the fuck that is anyway) and less embarrassed to not be ok because someone else was willing to admit it. So this song became self-empowerment. Give me a reason to connect to a song and it's almost like the kiss I had in my 1996 Jeep and the bag of chips we ate while hanging out after looking at the stars; suddenly that used car becomes more than a vehicle for transportation, it becomes a vehicle for emotion (give yourself 2 big brownie points if you saw that one coming). So now this song has more 96 Jeep in it for me because when I listened again, after this connection it sounded even better.

Bluhm, consisting of members Claire Bluhm and John Marion is a dream Pop duo hailing from Detroit, Michigan. This song is off their soon-to-be-released debut album, "Garden of Hearts."

Claire stated, " I'm Not Okay is a deeply personal song that embodies the emotions and vulnerabilities we all face at some point in our lives when we attempt to open ourselves up to another person. We're thrilled to share this piece of our hearts with the world and invite listeners to join us as we explore every possible emotional one can feel in the context of a relationship."

I really enjoyed the clean drums because they managed to make me feel as if the song had a throttling of its pace. Sometimes when I'm anxious I feel like I'm talking and moving faster so this was also a cool parallel to how I actually feel. I do think that the vocals were as much acted as they were sung because they portray the solemn mood of the emotions explained, while still carrying wonderful tones and a very appealing flavor. Flavor comes to mind when hearing Claire sing this song because it just covers a large range while not being self-indulgent and letting the mood dictate the performance rather than trying to prove they can sing (they can and very beautifully) however the effort was all placed in proving the lyrics really matter. John did a great job creating the instrumentation and I think hearing this duo is married really was also cool.

John added, "Our debut album, "Garden of Hearts," is a labor of love that represents our growth as musicians and storytellers. We hope it makes people feel less alone if they are feeling the pain and anxiety that relationships can sometimes bring with them."

Check this song out, if you aren't ok, message them and let them know, but be sure to say you love the song because we know that is true!