Indie band releases synth-heavy new album
London-based transcendental indie rockers Bombay Bicycle Club added a heavier synth-sound to their latest album “So Long, See You Tomorrow.”
BBC has taken a journey over the years from the basic soft rock of their first EP to the gentle folk of 2010-release Flaws to 2012 electro-pop “A Different Kind of Fix.” The band’s big hits, however, have been known for that spacey sound that leaves you drifting away on intangible electronic echoes while simultaneously moving forward with consistent rhythms. Think “Always Like This” from their ’09 record or “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep” and “Shuffle” from the ’11 disc.
“So Long, See You Tomorrow” continues producing the hypnotic waves of sound. The newest album’s experimental sonic texturing blends effortlessly between a variation of throwback rock-heavy anthems and slower, piano-driven emotional ballads while keeping alive all eras of BBC.
Discordant, cymbal and synth-mixed “Carry Me” carries us with angelic interludes and spacey instrumental tangents, while rainforest-personifying “Luna” offers the most mainstream-pleasing yet undeniably innovative track on the album.
All the while, a spellbinding Eastern groove resonates as the background inspiration for “Overdone” and “Feel,” and emotions escape through piano keys in “Eyes Off You.” A personal favorite, “Whenever Wherever,” might most embody their previous sound with a little bit of an upgrade.
The key to success for BBC lies in their emotion-draining delivery executed inexhaustibly with each song. Few performers become entranced with their own art than lead man Jack Steadman, who delivers most tracks with eyes closed and between the lips of an impermeable beam. The whole band seemed lost in the trance; vessels of the waves of music. Ride the waves of sound and you might find something profound.