Los Angeles – It’s that quickening, climactic moment in every action adventure movie ever made. When the hero of the story is about to enter the arena of whatever he’s trying to accomplish, and everything hangs in the balance. And then—a sweeping, epic song comes on. A lofty, aspirational, drum beat to push him to his destiny. That’s what every song on Bad Blood sounds like. Vast open fields, star-filled skies, The Lion King, Russell Crowe in Gladiator. It’s all prevalent, palpable, visual.
In that sense, Dan Smith, the creator and creative heart of Bastille, has accomplished his mission. An introverted, self-professed film obsessive and massive David Lynch fan, he wanted to create thematic, movie-esque songs, often built around history. Smith told UK’s The Independent in March, “I like the idea of the songs being evocative…so I have in my mind the atmosphere that a film could evoke. I like to think of them existing in their own little world.” The moviegoer, so familiar and close to those feelings, will love that about this album.
But the album itself is wanting. Bad Blood, the London-based band’s debut, accomplishes its filmic desires, but it is vague, repetitive, the lyrics are simple to the point of being almost ridiculous, and you can’t help but wonder why you’re listening to it, aside from the fact that it’s very easy to listen to. Almost impossibly easy.
The UK’s top selling debut act of 2013 has made its way to the U.S. and it is infecting. Bastille (comprised of Smith, Chris Wood, Will Farquarson and Kyle Simmons) is currently on its first-ever North American headlining tour, which kicked off in San Diego Sept. 16. It is an act that rests soundly on pop premise: Fill your bones, invade you, make you want to soar and dance and all of that. But in nine out of ten moments it lacks in anything other than mundane, almost clueless content. There are a few stray moments when you think, “Oh, maybe…” but then nothing. It feels a bit like being taken advantage of. It moves you, but it’s of no substance and leaves you feeling silly.
That being said, there’s almost not a bad song on this album. They’re all sweeping, infectious, heavy drum-beating anthems, the hooks are amazing, the vocals, beautiful. Smith’s voice has a seriousness to it; a melancholy that plays interestingly with the urgency of the instruments and synthesizer. And while the beat pushes everything on this album, there is a heaviness to it, a sadness (“Overjoyed” is a notable, haunting track.) It feels religious–the drums, the chanting, the repetition, the soaring quality of it. There’s a soundtrack-to-your-life feel to almost every song on Bad Blood, and all the songs sound similar. There is a sense of impending danger, of running toward something, or of leaving something really terrible and difficult behind. It’s as if the listener is preparing for battle. There’s merit, too, in the thematic umbrella of destruction (e.g. Pompeii) present throughout the album, but the lyrics often serve the beat more than they do anything else. They seem almost inappropriate in moments, describing serious or taboo events or ideas, like someone’s home burning down (“Things We Lost in the Fire”), and yet playing alongside a lightness of sound that’s comical, whimsical and sort of misplaced.
It is a debut that has been met with enormous attention, and while not exactly visionary, it is catchy. It is the truly disarming thing about this album: It makes it easy to listen to things that are hard. Struggle, pain, destruction, made melodic and sweet and powerful. In that sense, this album is an extremely successful example of pop music. It is an appeal to the senses. The songs on this album will get stuck in your head; you will sing them to yourself as you make dinner or putt around your bathroom. But it’s not the kind of album that will stick with you over time, or deliver fresh insight the more you listen, and it isn’t an album you’ll be telling your kids about.
Essential Tracks: Pompeii, Overjoyed
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