Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Albums : Bombay Bicycle Club : So Long, See You Tomorrow

Albums : Bombay Bicycle Club : So Long, See You Tomorrow

Listen To Bombay Bicycle Club : So Long, See You Tomorrow

Bombay Bicycle Club
Bombay Bicycle Club are an English indie rock band from Crouch End, London. The band is composed of Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Suren de Saram (drums) and Ed Nash (bass). They are guitar-fronted and have mingled with genres. For example, Flaws, a folk inspired album, takes inspiration from artists like Joni Mitchell. Suren de Saram's father is the classical cellist Rohan de Saram. Jamie MacColl is the grandson of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, and the nephew of Kirsty MacColl. His brother Tom MacColl is drummer for the band Casablanca. Jack Steadman writes most of the music for the band and has uploaded some of his solo work on YouTube. Ed Nash has made a tumblr page of the band's tour photos, which can be viewed at www.ednash.tumblr.com

The band was asked to play the opening performance of 2006's V Festival after winning Channel 4's "Road to V" competition. Following the release of two EPs and their debut single "Evening/Morning", the band recorded their debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose. The album was released on 6 July 2009. The band released their second album, Flaws, on 9 July 2010 and their third album, A Different Kind of Fix, on 26 August 2011. Their fourth album, So Long, See You Tomorrow was released on 3 February 2014. The first single from the album, Luna, was released on 7 January 2014. After steadily climbing the UK charts with each successive album, they earned their first Number 1 position with "So Long See You Tomorrow" on the 9th of February 2014.

Steadman, MacColl and de Saram met at age 15, and began playing under the name The Canals after performing together in a school assembly, with Jack's current girlfriend, Molly Assiotes. They switched between various aliases until they picked Bombay Bicycle Club, named after a (now defunct) chain of Indian restaurants in Britain. The line-up changed regularly until summer 2006, when Ed Nash joined the band after they met him at a funeral. Initially they played gigs at small London venues such as The Old Blue Last, Lark in the Park and Jacksons Lane (as well as winning Exeter's Got Talent 2009).

The band were entered into Virgin Mobile's "Road to V" competition on Channel 4 in 2006. They were announced as one of two winners of the competition on 16 August 2006, beating competition from fellow London band - and favourites to win the competition - The Holloways in the final round of fourteen bands. Previous participants include The Young Knives, who were winners of the inaugural competition one year before. They were given the opening slot of the 2006 V Festival, playing on the Channel 4 Stage in Chelmsford on 19 August, before opening the Staffordshire site the following day.

On 16 May 2007, NME published an article naming Bombay Bicycle Club "...the hottest band to come from North London for quite some time". Bombay Bicycle Club released their debut EP, The Boy I Used to Be, on 12 February 2007. The band released it on their own independent record label, Mmm... Records. The EP was produced by Jim Abbiss at his own personal request, and was recorded and mixed by Ewan Davies at Lincolnshire's Chapel Studios. To support the release of the EP they played a headline show at the Dingwalls in Camden as well as supporting fellow "Road to V" winners The Young Knives across some of their UK Tour. The band also played the Carling Stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2007.

The band's second EP, How We Are, was released on 22 October 2007, again through Mmm... Records. The EP was produced by Jim Abbiss and was recorded and mixed by Richard Wilkinson at Konk Studios. The band headlined their first UK tour in support of this release and the EP debuted at #2 on the UK Indie Singles Chart 5 November 2007.

At the beginning of 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club appeared at the third annual Artrocker Festival, the Camden Crawl, and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The band also played the Shockwaves NME Awards Show at London's KOKO where they were main support for The Hold Steady.

In June 2008, all current members of the band officially finished higher secondary school education, which meant that they could commit full-time to music – and enjoy freedom from the conflicting responsibilities of being in a band versus the pursuit of higher education. The band also headlined the first Club NME in Paris at La Fleche D'or venue, they were supported by Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya, with DJ sets coming from South Central, Shitdisco and Vicarious Bliss.

The band's first single, "Evening/Morning", was released on 4 August 2008 through Young and Lost Club. The single was produced by Jim Abbiss and was recorded and mixed by Richard Wilkinson at The Garden, London. The band embarked on a 23 date UK tour throughout July and August; this included festival appearances at the 2008 Reading and Leeds Festivals, the 2008 T in the Park Festival, The Edge Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland and the second Underage Festival.

In September 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club took part in the Levi's Ones to Watch 5 Night Revue at The Macbeth in London. The band headlined the first night with support from Sky Larkin and an interview and highlights from the show were broadcast on Channel 4 on 9 October 2008.

Bombay Bicycle Club's debut album was recorded between late October and late November 2008 at Konk Studios in London. The album was produced by Jim Abbiss. The band also played the Levi's Ones To Watch tour at the end of October, which included dates in Brighton, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Glasgow.

At the end of 2008 Bombay Bicycle Club signed a deal with Island Records to release future singles and albums with the record label. All releases were to be published through the Mmm...Records/Island Records offprint, the first release being the single "Always Like This". The single was released in April 2009 and reached #97 on the UK Singles Chart. The band toured throughout April in support of the release.

On 9 May 2010, Bombay Bicycle Club released the track "Ivy & Gold" in the United Kingdom as a digital download. The single, which was released as a double A-part with the track "Flaws" served as the lead single from the upcoming second studio album; which was later confirmed to be entitled Flaws. Having been added to BBC Radio 1's A Playlist, the single debuted on the singles chart at number 97, climbing to number 56 the following week; marking the band's most successful single to date.

The band released their second studio album Flaws in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2010; where it debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 8; beating the debut's peak of number 46. The album included 11 acoustically recorded tracks, including "Swansea"; a cover of the Joanna Newsom song that appears on her album The Milk-Eyed Mender and "Fairytale Lullaby"; a cover of the John Martyn song that appears on the album London Conversation. On 10 December, the album was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for selling over 60,000 copies.

On 20 September, the band released the second single "Rinse Me Down" as a music download and 7" vinyl alongside a track entitled "Dorcas", which served as the second A-side. The single managed to reach Radio 1's B Playlist, although failed to chart in the UK.

On 19 April 2011, it was announced that Flaws has been nominated for the 2011 Ivor Novello Award for best album.

In September 2010, the band announced that they had begun working on their third studio album, once again returning to electric guitars following acoustic recordings for Flaws. On 7 June 2011, Zane Lowe revealed on BBC Radio 1 that their new album would be called A Different Kind of Fix. He also said that he would be playing a new song from the album titled "Shuffle" on 22 June before its release as a single the following day. The single reached #69 in the charts. The album was released on 29 August 2011 and includes 12 tracks. The band have announced that "Beg" will round off the album as its final release on 9 July 2012. The track failed to make the original physical version of the album but was available as a bonus track on the digital version. Lucy Rose sang on A Different Kind of Fix, but the band recruited Amber Wilson instead for their 2012 tour due to Lucy's solo project. Louis Bhose, a keyboardist also is a part of the group.

Bombay Bicycle Club won the Best New Band award at the 2010 NME Awards on 24 February, up against nominees such as The xx, The Big Pink, La Roux, The Olivers and Mumford & Sons. In June 2010, their song "How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep" was included as a bonus track on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack.

Bombay Bicycle Club were among the bands chosen to perform at the BT London Live concert in Hyde Park, which marked the end of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Rolling Stone magazine commented that they were great

So Long, See you Tomrrow Review
Bombay Bicycle Club are back and are sticking to what they know. ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ is a return to the dance-rock anthems they’re known for, this time introducing an element of the electronic. Making controversial comments earlier in the year on the saturation of “bad Indie bands” that arose post-Arctic Monkeys debut, the band had a lot of hype to live up, doomed to the label of ‘pretentious idiots’, for want of another word, if expectations were left unfulfilled.

Luckily for them, this album is not a complete train wreck so they actually don’t look like idiots for saying it. The album itself is a very skillful example of the intertwinement of restraint and explosive energy. Each track moves through the paces and some point, except maybe for the exception of ‘Eyes Off You’, bursts into life in anthemic choruses that make you want to dance.

It seems right to discuss their singles off the album so far, ‘Carry Me’ and ‘Luna’, the latter of which is circulating around the radio like there’s no tomorrow. Both of them are infectious, the beat almost forces you to bop in time. But they are precise and, for a band that has rarely used electronic aspects in their music before, they’re surprisingly apt and it adds a fresh dimension to their sound.

I do have a few niggling matter with the album though. The combination of restraint and energy may make for some choruses bursting with life but at the same time, the pacing of the songs, and the entire album in turn, is stunted in places. As soon as you get into a chorus some songs will just cut off into the verses, leaving you slightly in the lurch- a perfect example being ‘It’s Alright Now’.

This album is definitely worth an exploration. Bombay Bicycle Club have not departed far from what their fans would want and if you’ve never listened to them, now is a good a time as any to start. ‘You burn through my mind again and again’ the chorus of ‘Luna’ goes, and if it’s anything to go by, this album will be burning for a good few weeks.


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