Bombay Bicycle Club // So Long, See You Tomorrow
Overdone’ rapidly takes on a Bollywood vibe. This, blurred with the kind of vocals and drumbeats you’d expect, suggest evolution, and not a complete move away from the early days.
One of my biggest gig related regrets involves Bombay Bicycle Club. Having cycled there, at a post-gig signing I got them to scribble on a poster rather than my bike lights. Opportunity well and truly squandered. Never mind. BBC have become one of those coming-of-age bands (see: The Vaccines, Two Door Cinema Club, Arctic Monkeys); they’ve grown up with us. Since we last heard from Bombay Bicycle Club, singer and songwriter extraordinaire Jack Steadman has been globetrotting left right and centre, but with a bit more purpose than a gap year interrailing adventure. Opening with a borderline twee instrumental, ‘Overdone’ rapidly takes on a Bollywood vibe. This, blurred with the kind of vocals and drumbeats you’d expect, suggest evolution, and not a complete move away from the early days. It’s pretty clear the globetrotting has left its mark. Marks are deducted because I had very high hopes that ‘Whenever, Wherever’ was a Shakira cover. It is not. Later tracks include funky bass lines, smatterings of electro, more Asian influences, and some bloody depressing yet fairly poetic words. There’s dream pop notes and some beautiful guest vocals from both Lucy Rose and Rae Morris. The whole thing is exquisite. As a whole it’s both different and oh-so-familiar. There is a history of bands who don’t quite pull off the worldly, but for Bombay Bicycle Club, and this album, it works. 8.5/10 Maddie Russell
One of my biggest gig related regrets involves Bombay Bicycle Club. Having cycled there, at a post-gig signing I got them to scribble on a poster rather than my bike lights. Opportunity well and truly squandered. Never mind. BBC have become one of those coming-of-age bands (see: The Vaccines, Two Door Cinema Club, Arctic Monkeys); they’ve grown up with us. Since we last heard from Bombay Bicycle Club, singer and songwriter extraordinaire Jack Steadman has been globetrotting left right and centre, but with a bit more purpose than a gap year interrailing adventure. Opening with a borderline twee instrumental, ‘Overdone’ rapidly takes on a Bollywood vibe. This, blurred with the kind of vocals and drumbeats you’d expect, suggest evolution, and not a complete move away from the early days. It’s pretty clear the globetrotting has left its mark. Marks are deducted because I had very high hopes that ‘Whenever, Wherever’ was a Shakira cover. It is not. Later tracks include funky bass lines, smatterings of electro, more Asian influences, and some bloody depressing yet fairly poetic words. There’s dream pop notes and some beautiful guest vocals from both Lucy Rose and Rae Morris. The whole thing is exquisite. As a whole it’s both different and oh-so-familiar. There is a history of bands who don’t quite pull off the worldly, but for Bombay Bicycle Club, and this album, it works. 8.5/10 Maddie Russell
