Albums : Bastille : All This Bad Blood
Listen To Bastille : All This Bad Blood
It’s appropriate that the popularity of a band with a song about the fiery destruction of an ancient city began to blossom during a storm. Londoners Bastille were playing at a 500-capacity tent at the U.K.’s Isle of Wright about a month after they began gigging as a band.
The tent was empty, until it started to pour. By the time they were done, no room remained.
“It was, at the time, amazing to play to that many people in one go,” 26-year-old Bastille vocalist and keyboardist Dan Smith said.
Smith doesn’t credit the downpour for boosting the band to the status of the United Kingdom’s top selling act of 2013 – but it was an early sign that the hook-heavy electronic pop project he started in a college dorm room was going places.
Bastille plays Amoeba SF and a Popscene show at the Rickshaw Stop on Monday before returning to the Great American Music Hall on Sept. 19.
Laura Palmer
Another sign for Smith came before he even recruited bandmates Will Farquarson, Kyle Simmons and Chris Wood.
While he was still performing shows by himself, Elton John took a liking to Smith and offered him a management deal.
“I think one of the people working at his company had been coming to some gigs and heard some of my songs,” Smith said. “They got me into their studio and had me record a couple of songs I’d written. Getting a phone call from Elton John to join a company is really (interesting).”
But the grand size of the firm didn’t sit right with Smith. He wanted to start small and build a fan base the traditional way.
“I kind of felt like I wanted to start from the (bottom),” he said. “I feel like doing it the way that we have has earned us a lot of incredibly loyal fans who tell their friends about it through word of mouth.”
Where Smith and Bastille are now – an EP (Haunt) that debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, a video (“Pompeii”) that through the end of June had been viewed more than 25 million times online, a debut album (Bad Blood, released earlier this year in the U.K.) that debuted at No. 1, and an American TV debut on Conan (two days following the Popscene show) – is definitely not where they started.
Smith started Bastille (named because he was born on France’s Bastille Day – he was to celebrate his birthday two days following this interview) by himself, using a laptop and a synth to record songs. He was not noticed until his last year at college, when a roommate entered him in a contest, and he won recording time in a professional studio and his first-ever show. In 2010, he began putting his songs online.
First he performed by himself, then with Farquarson and Wood, and finally with Simmons. Known in the U.K. as an introvert, Smith has worked hard to establish himself as a performer and not just a bedroom songwriter and producer.
“We’ve been touring together for over two-and-a-half, three years, so we were very much a band now,” he said.
As a songwriter, Smith steers clear of the usual autobiographical and love topics. Instead, his muses include history and film. “Pompeii,” for example, is about the fiery destruction of the ancient Roman city, and the discovery of human remains at the archeological site.
Pompeii
“I just thought it would be such an interesting idea to try and imagine the conversation that could obviously never happen between the two of these bodies that were stuck in this pose,” he said. “I guessed probably they’re a bit bored. In the line, ‘How am I supposed to be an optimist about this?’ I guess it’s a bit of a joke because how could a charred, ashy corpse be an optimist about anything?”
The band also released a single called “Laura Palmer,” named after the character in Twin Peaks. Smith is a fan of series creator David Lynch, as well as film director Terrence Malick. The video for another song, “Flaws,” was created with clips from Malick’s film Badlands.
Smith said he views songs visually and tries to imagine them as a narrative, whether it is through a conversation between characters or by setting a mood through his production.
Next week’s Popscene show will be Smith’s first visit to San Francisco since his parents took him on vacation as a child. Everyone in the band is obsessed with Mexican food and when Smith is told that he will have his fill in The City, his voice lights up: “Amazing! I’m so excited!”
The United Kingdom is not known for its Mexican food options, but that is beginning to change, he said.
“There’s a place called Oaxaca – with a ‘W’ – W-A-H-A-C-A,” he said. “It started in London, and started growing and growing as a chain. That food is amazing. Some places are not so good.”
The band means business when it comes to Mexican food – at the merch tables, fans can find Bastille Hot Sauce. Smith and his bandmates were tired of seeing the same swag at concerts and decided to pour out their love for mouth-burners on to their fans.
“Next thing I knew, we were designing the labels for it, (deciding) how spicy we wanted it to be and how much habanero we wanted in it,” Smith said. “Suddenly, it was a reality.
All This Bad Blood
The tale of most indie bands has been a familiar one for many years now: surviving through grueling anonymity until Top 40 radio stations pick up a deserving single. It has been the tried-and-true tale of many well-deserving bands before the rise of the indie genre.
The same story has happened to the genre’s best, including Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, Ellie Goulding and numerous others. The mainstream acceptance of former indie acts has allowed bands like Bastille, a London-based indie band known for its unique blend of synth-rock and disco grooves, to rise out of relative obscurity.
Bastille’s 2013 single “Pompeii,” from their debut LP, “Bad Blood,” is becoming widely heard. Their mixtapes, “Other People’s Heartaches Pt. I” and “Other People’s Heartaches Pt. II,” blend early ’90s songs such as TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Haddaway’s “What is Love” with their own original tracks.
The 25-track album “All This Bad Blood” is composed of the 15-track “Bad Blood” in its entirety along with four tracks from “Other People’s Heartaches Pt. I” and “Other People’s Heartache’s Pt. II.” The album, once promising 25 brand new Bastille tracks, only brings six to the table.
Despite the initial disappointment, “All This Bad Blood” makes up for what it lacks in new quantity with undeniable quality.
The album’s first 12 tracks are entirely from “Bad Blood,” starting with the single “Pompeii.” The song is reminiscent of Imagine Dragons’ signature reliance on heavy-handed percussion and primeval chants. “Things We Lost in the Fire” is a gorgeous track detailing a couple’s journey in recovering from a house fire. It features heart-wrenching, tender lyrics offset by swelling strings. The lyrics are poignant and evoke intimate emotions through a matter-of-fact dictation.
The first new track, “Poet,” is a jolly pop track describing the immortality that Dan Smith, the band’s lead vocalist, has given to a woman by making her the subject of his song. Smith sings over bright finger snaps and buoyant keyboard taps. This track is a modern, head-bobbing breakdown of the weighty powers that Smith possesses.
Bastille is certainly no stranger to subjects like mortality and existentialism. Many songs wrap around the basis of mythological and religious ideals. “Bad Blood” features two songs that deal with the stories of Icarus and Daniel in the lions’ den.
Furthering the album’s recurring theme of mortality, ”Haunt (Demo),” sounds far more developed than its “demo” disclaimer suggests. Its dark, layered vocals are reminiscent of a Gregorian chant. Smith’s lyrics are menacing as he sings to someone, assumed to be a former lover.
“The Draw,” one of Bastille’s most stripped-down songs to date, has one of the most infectiously catchy vocal hooks of any of Bastille’s choruses. While the band is known for their dynamic layering of numerous musical components, this song is composed of only a distant-sounding electric guitar, an elementary drumbeat and the patter of soft keys. In spite of its glaring simplicity, it proves to be a powerful, emotionally-laden song. It’s a song that deviates from genres Bastille has explored on their previous albums, but it’s done gorgeously.
Bringing Bastille back to their “Other People’s Heartaches” days is “Skulls,” a song reminiscent of the unique brand of hip-hop that defined much of Bastille’s first two mixtapes. Smith sings about death, decomposition and imminent mortality with deceiving positivity. It’s a testament to the band’s unique ability to disguise morbid subject matter under infectious beats and Smith’s intoxicating vocals.
“All This Bad Blood” is a well-executed anthology that satisfies the listener looking for immense variety and range within one musical act. It touches on existential subject matter with a seasoned hand and contrasting, vibrant instrumentals. Smith’s gorgeous vocal range combined with Bastille’s foothold in more than one genre makes this collection a sparkling accent on an immensely successful year for one of the best up-and-coming indie acts.
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Sources :
Bastille Photo
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Listen To All This Bad Blood
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Bastille Article
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All This Bad Blood Review
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Laura Palmer Video
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Pompeii Video
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