Songfacts®:

• The title track of Blossoms' fifth album, "Gary," is based on the bizarre, and entirely true, tale of an 8-foot fiberglass gorilla named Gary that was stolen from Reynard Garden in the quiet town of Carluke, Scotland.
• Blossoms' frontman Tom Ogden first heard about the saga on the radio. Inspired by the tale of Gary's disappearance and the heartfelt plea from the garden center owner for the safe return of his enormous gorilla, Ogden set to work writing the song.
  
  "I was driving home and the news came on: 'A giant fiberglass gorilla has been stolen from a garden center in Carluke, Scotland. The hunt is on for Gary the Gorilla,'" Ogden recalled to Apple Music. "I went home and started reading about it and then wrote the song in half an hour on the acoustic guitar. It was as if the song always existed, I just had to wait for that moment of inspiration to come over me."
• The song's video, directed by Ogden and his brother Ewan, recreates the event. It stars '80s pop icon Rick Astley as Andrew Scott, the unfortunate proprietor who finds himself suddenly gorilla-less. Blossoms themselves play the role of the thieves who make off with poor Gary, while Everton FC manager Sean Dyche makes a return appearance, following his role in the band's earlier video for "What Can I Say After I'm Sorry?"
  
  Shot on 16mm film, the video roams around Stockport, the Peak District, and Derbyshire, giving the whole escapade a slightly retro, cinematic charm.
• Produced by James Skelly of The Coral, a longtime collaborator of the band, "Gary" is the album's beating heart. According to Ogden, they toyed with other titles but always circled back to the simplicity of "Gary."
• Gary was recorded with all five band members playing live in a room together for the first time in years. "We wanted to capture the energy of what it's like when five friends decide to start a band and make music together," said Ogden.