DEPOT In The Castle With Bastille

Description

Over the course of nearly a decade together, Bastille’s unique sound – that cinematic, melancholic pop that masks the bleak realities reflected in their lyrics – has connected with audiences across the globe like no other British band in recent memory.

In 2011 South Londoner, Dan Smith, started Bastille alone in his bedroom, releasing 300 copies of Bastille’s debut single. Relentless gigging, genuine word of mouth, some smartly curated mixtapes meant that within a few years — and with Chris Wood (drums), Will Farquarson (guitar) and Kyle Simmons (keyboards) added to the line-up, Bastille became a global phenomenon. The band’s chart-conquering twice No.1 debut album ‘Bad Blood’, which featured the international hit, ‘Pompeii’ was the biggest-selling digital album of 2013. They became that year’s biggest-selling global breakthrough act, with over a billion Spotify streams earning them the British Breakthrough Act award at the 2014 Brits, along with two Grammy nominations. Last month the album passed the 1 million sales mark with only 10 debut albums having achieved the same feat over the last 10 years.

Bastille’s second album ‘Wild World’ retained the vivid, rich, filmic song-writing of its predecessor but pushed the band’s distinctive sound in exciting new directions. Like Bad Blood the album scored a No.1 in the UK, and Top 5 in the U.S, going Gold in the process. The record’s lead single, Good Grief achieved the most week-one streams ever for an alternative single and scored them a nomination for Best British Group at the 2017 Brits. In 2018 the band collaborated with Marshmello on hit single, “Happier,”. The track topped charts around the world, with cumulative streams exceeding 3.5 billion, is now certified 5x Platinum in the U.S. and has sold more than 15 million units in the rest of the world. It spent a record-breaking year at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic songs tally. The same year the band played the Re-Orchestrated tour, with a show at London’s prestigious Albert Hall, reworking their songs to feature a live orchestra and choir. The tour received rave reviews from critics describing it as brilliant, bold and brave.

Bastille’s third album, Doom Days received huge critical acclaim and charted in the top 5 in both the UK and U.S, the only UK band to have achieved this chart landmark alongside The Beatles and Queen in 2019. The record found the band at their most lyrically provocative, most accomplished, and most vital and charts the course of one night in search of distraction from the surrounding apocalypse. During 2019 the four-piece continued to cement their reputation as one of the world’s most captivating live bands having played an extensive two month-long sold-out U.S and UK tour.

So, to 2020, a year when the world turned upside down, yet the four-piece showed no signs of slowing down instead opting to do things differently. In January the band kicked the year off with an epic Re-Orchestrated show with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the biggest ever show of its kind and featuring musicians from all nine countries around the Baltic Sea. Then in February Bastille were nominated for their 6^th BRIT Award for Best Group just as the Doom Days album campaign ended and the chapter that was the trilogy of their first three albums came to a close.

As the Global Pandemic hit in March and lockdown began, Dan launched the Distraction Tactics Film Club on IG to provide some much need escape for fans. Thousands tuned in and the club attracted a host of big named guests including Simon Pegg, Taika Waititi and Jon Ronson. Bastille were also one of the acts asked to be involved in Radio 1’s All-Star Live Lounge cover of the Foo Fighter’s poignant ‘Times Like These’. They joined the rest of pop royalty on the No.1 single which raised money for those most significantly impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Then in September the four-piece surprise released the raucous single ‘WHAT YOU GONNA DO ???’ featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon. The track kicked off the band’s new expect-the-unexpected sonic identity and was quickly followed by the groove led new fan favourite ‘Survivin’’. As the year ends, Bastille change things up again with the release of their final track of 2020, the infectious R&B led Goosebumps featuring super producer Kenny Beats. The track features on the fan release E.P of the same name which also features two exclusive live performances filmed at the band’s studio, One Eyed Jack’s.  

For Bastille 2020 has been a year of new beginnings and spontaneity and with the hopeful return to live music on the horizon and more new music on the way, the band look set for an exciting 2021.