MUSIC Bombay Bicycle Club’s post-hiatus LP glides on their infectious indie-rock formula
THE UK QUARTET’S POST-HIATUS LP GLIDES ON THEIR INFECTIOUS INDIE-ROCK FORMULA AND SONGWRITING THAT ADVOCATES SELF-CARE AND CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
“We were all really jaded by the end of the last album. We’d done four albums in five years and it’d pretty much been non-stop. You do start to lose the love of it,” Bombay Bicycle Club’s guitarist Jamie MacColl said in his interview with NME last September, following an announcement of the band’s fifth album Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. Now, any keen indie fans out there will know that he wasn’t exaggerating. Besides pumping out three solid LPs, the UK four-piece, for the better part of the 2010s, can be seen headlining practically every major festival around the world. Exhausted and uninspired, they decided to go on a hiatus that would last half-a-decade.
Now fully re-energised, the boys have returned with the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s So Long, See You Tomorrow. Designed to provide a sonic solace for those facing a personal or political crisis, Everything Else bristles with joy and positivity that’s already evidenced by electrifying lead cut Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You). Here, frontman Jack Steadman sings about the simple joy of reuniting with his bandmates: “I may not say it outwardly/ So all I have are memories/ Those looks at the start, the words in the dark/ But never a flame, we just wanted the spark.”
This particular brand of unbridled bliss sits especially well with the overall production underpinned by propulsive synths and indie-rock guitarwork. And while tracks
like Get Up, Is It Real? and I Can Hardly Speak are instantly recognisable as a classic BBC offering, we do get a few surprises along the way. One of which is the riff-driven title track that pretty much sums up the album with the lines “Keep the stereo on/ Everything else has gone wrong” and the life-affirming chant of “And yes, I found my second wind/ I guess I found my peace again”. Other feel-good tunes include I Worry About You whose lyrics share its tender sentiment of those on Do
You Feel Loved? and People People, a duet with fellow English singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence. The verdict: Listening to Everything Else is akin to reuniting with an old friend who has a way of putting things in perspective. It’s the album that invites you to shut off, tune in and find consolation in music.
Quotable lyrics:
“First my looks and now my friends/ Day-by-day, I’m losing them/ Losing them, losing collagen, losing elastin/ The melting ice caps in my drink/ Made me stop and think about/ Think about time running out” (Good Day).
Listen to this:
Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You), Good Day.