Music

Album Review: Bastille – Bad Blood

After releasing two brilliant mixtapes full of song covers, mash ups and film soundtracks/quotes the debut album from Bastille is finally here and it has been worth the wait.

Opening with the gloriously epic sounding ‘Pompeii’ with its “eh oh oh eh oh”s and stomping drum beats, it’s the perfect debut album opener. The catchy chorus of ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ is guaranteed to have you singing along. Title track ‘Bad Blood’ is the heaviest song on the album but it still fits in with the rest of the album well remaining signature Bastille with its infectious chorus.

‘Overjoyed’ is a track where you get to hear the sheer beauty and brilliance of Dan Smith’s voice, the slow track with its quiet music lets the vocals take centre stage and with a voice as good as Smith’s it really is a wonderful moment. As well as being great vocally this is also a very strong album lyrically with lyrics and themes that are clearly personal to Dan making them that much more relatable to the listener.

Mixing electronics, drums and strings throughout this entire album in what seems like such an effortless manner. All the melodies and songs fit so well together letting the album flow and you do sometimes forget that this is a debut album and not their 3rd or 4th album. Months of endless touring and a clear understanding of sounds has given the band the basis to create such an impressive 1st album.

‘Oblivion’ is far and away the most beautiful moment on the entire album, the amazing vocals set against piano and strings makes for a breath-taking listen. Finishing up with ‘Laura Palmer’ and ‘Get Home’, the former is one of the band’s oldest songs with an epic sound and the latter full of piano undertones, bass drum sounds and sing a long vocals, carrying itself into a hidden track with a great melody that ends the album as strong as it started.

A well-made and absolutely stunning debut album that is sure to make Bastille one of the biggest names in music in 2013, if you haven’t already heard of them or their songs then you will have very soon.

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