Emerging from who knows where after the release of their album “All This Bad Blood” in 2013, the British band Bastille announced their newest album, “Wild World,” on Sept. 9. With an installment of 14 new songs, Bastille returns with bright new twists on their unique style of “electro-rock” music. According to Spotify Music, the album is inspired by cinematic arts. Many tracks feature “cut-scenes” of audio from that of movies. Some of the songs featuring these audio clips are: “Good Grief,” “The Anchor,” “Send Them Off!,” and more.
Starting off their album is their popular single “Good Grief.” This song, released as a radio single months ago, introduces the idea of “happiness in a time of distress” (Spotify). The song gravitates around the story of a man figuring out what to do with his life, to make it as great as possible, even though he is going through a period of his life after which he lost someone he cares about.
Another song to look into is “Campus.” This song begins with a similar intro that resembles that of “Weight of Living, Pt. 1” off of their “All This Bad Blood.” In this song, lead singer, Dan Smith tells the story of a student who represents somewhat of a wallflower and demonstrates the idea that anyone can be more than just another face in the hall or “brain on the campus.”
An upbeat love song on the album would be “The Anchor.” In the song, the subject speaks of someone who is “the anchor” that he ties to brain, that helps him when he is “lost at sea.” The lyrics go on to say “I think of you all the time,” meaning that this person is one that he holds near and dear to himself. It is almost as if there is always that one person who is able to bring you down to earth.
In “Four Walls (The Ballad of Perry Smith),” you’ll notice an immediate emotional shift compared to other songs in this album. The lyrics themselves paint the image of a prison cell in your head, and give you the short story of a man serving in prison. The last line, “This is a collect call from Kansas State Penitentiary: “Being brought up one way and trying to see another way is very difficult,” finally makes the connection of the convicted man, and his struggle of how he ended up where he is now.
“The Currents,” another track on the album, is a song about living with your stress and mistakes as it affects more people than just yourself. The song talks about “swimming to the surface” and “coming up for air,” which may be symbolizing the attempt to relieve these negative feelings in an effort to get better.
For those who want to listen, Spotify offers the complete edition of “Wild World,” with a total of 19 songs. A Target exclusive version of the album also offers two other tracks for listeners, including: “Final Hour” and the Bunker Sessions version of “Send Them Off!”