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Bombay Bicycle Club – Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

January 17, 2020 (Mmm… Records)

Bombay Bicycle Club have just returned from a 6-year gap between albums, after leaving on a high note with So Long, See You Tomorrow. That album was a fantastic evolution of their indie rock sound through the use of samples and melodies inspired by music from India, Turkey and Japan. It saw the band push themselves further than ever before, but their comeback album Everything Else Has Gone Wrong has them content to take a step backwards, and it acts as a musical reflection on their now decade-long career.

It’s a contemplative effort that borrow shades from each of their previous records. Opener “Get Up” has a snake-charming clarinet riff that suggests the album might continue with the band’s sound from 2014, but the very next song “Is It Real” would have fit right in on 2009’s I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, and will bring a good amount of joy to anyone feeling nostalgic for the indie rock boom of that time. It’s almost as if Bombay Bicycle Club never left that era, which isn’t to say that they haven’t progressed as a band, but instead is a compliment to their music staying so consistently great while some of their peers have fallen by the wayside.

It’s hard to rate and review this album. There’s the very valid criticism that Bombay Bicycle Club have returned after so long to do exactly what Bombay Bicycle Club have always done, but the counterargument is to ask why we should care when they do it so well? Jack Steadman has kept his ability to use his vulnerable vocal delivery to steer lyrics like “all the cracks around your head will fill with light” towards the path of sincerity instead of corniness. The guitar riffs are funky as ever, the hooks are still super strong, and, most of all, you get the feeling that the band genuinely enjoys creating and performing music together. It’s a hopeful feeling for long-time fans of the band, and one can only assume it’s the reason why they came back.

Favourite track: “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)”

Rating: 8 out of 10