It is fitting that Bastille’s long-awaited ‘Other People’s Heartache Pt.4’ mixtape begins with a stark cover of Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’ and closes with a similar re-work of their own ‘wild world’ quoting song “Warmth”.
The new collection of covers and collaborations serves as a bridge from the sentiments found on the band’s No.1 award-winning second album of the same name to their highly-anticipated third album due early next year.
“We wanted to nod to our last album and acknowledge that at the time, you couldn’t help but feel anxious about the terrifying changes in the world and that since then, they’ve all come to pass and everybody’s living through the consequences” explains front man Dan Smith. “Obviously these feel like perpetually stranger times, so it feels like different forms of escapism and distraction are more vital than ever.”
If the ‘Other People’s Heartache‘ series began as soundtracks to a series of imagined films, then this time, it’s the playlist to an apocalyptic party that plays out like a hazy meander through pop culture via the minds of Bastille.
The Other People’s Heartache mixtapes were started in 2012 as a way for the band to collaborate with other artists and experiment with different styles, genres and production techniques, using films and other people’s heartbreak songs as a canvas. Over time they’ve become almost as big a part of the band as their recorded albums. Their accidental mash-up of Corona’s ‘The Rhythm Of The Night’ and Snap!’s ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’became a No.2 single and huge live favourite, while festival backstage run-ins, tour-circuit hangouts and various recording sessions around the world led to many inventive, original collaborations with artists like Haim, Kate Tempest, Lizzo, Ella Eyre, Angel Haze, Rag’n’Bone Man, MNEK and Skunk Anansie.
Other People’s Heartache Pt.4, produced by Bastille alongside longtime collaborator Mark Crew, sees them return to the art of reworking other people’s songs, bringing together a handful of classic pop songs with Bastille originals via re-interpretations of songs from both “Wild World” and the new album, threading a narrative across the three releases.
“There’s something liberating about taking songs that we remember affectionately and presenting them in a totally different light” Dan says. “Like an homage or remake or even something a bit tongue-in-cheek, I think there’s something brilliant in music that connects with people being able to echo on through time via other people’s interpretations.”
The band reunite with Craig David, following their top 5 single collaboration, ‘I Know You’,as well as bringing in a handful of new collaborators like Best Laid Plans signees Kianja and Rationale, South London rapper Swarmz, and James Arthur to help transform ’90s pop classic En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’ and ’00s garage hit Sweet Female Attitude’s ‘Flowers’. ‘The Descent‘, a searingly barbed Bastille original, is re-worked here to feature some of the most interesting, impressive young vocalists around, Moss Kena, Jacob Banks and Lily Moore, before segueing off into a slow motion take on new album cut “Million Pieces”.
On a version of soul duo Charles & Eddie’s ‘Would I Lie To You?’, they wander momentarily into trap territory courtesy of Wolverhampton producer S-X’s beats, before the whole track skyrockets into “All Of The Lights” era-Kanye fake brass and distorted beats. Elsewhere, the unreleased, guitar-heavy fan favorite “Grip” is momentarily launched into the world of blissful EDM by Norwegian producers Seeb. It bears all the hallmarks of a typical Bastille song – euphoric, other-worldly, a bit weird – but also completely different to anything they’ve done before thanks to some bold pitch-shifting that sends Dan’s vocals to new heights.
“This is way outside my comfort zone and that’s definitely a good thing” he recalls. “It’s something we’d never have done but a good collaboration can stretch you, make you try something new and go to a different space, and be fun. Maybe it’s part of me mellowing out.”
Since the release of 2016’s ‘Wild World’, the band have entered many new spaces. Last year, they moved into the world of film soundtracks contributing ‘World Gone Mad’ to Netflix movie Bright. This year the band released the huge global hit single ‘Happier‘ with Marshmello which has topped charts around the world and is already a Platinum record in the U.S and Gold in the UK, with over half a billion streams worldwide. They also gave their songs a fresh reworking on the critically acclaimed sold out Re-Orchestrated Tour which garnered four-star reviews across the board. 2019 looks to be another landmark year kicking off with a sold out UK and European tour, plenty more new material and headline festival slots across the summer including the NME stage at next year’s Reading festival.
Tour Dates
| Sun 27 Jan 2019 – Dublin – Olympia Theatre Tue 29 Jan 2019 – Birmingham – O2 Academy Wed 30 Jan 2019 – Birmingham – O2 Academy Fri 01 Feb 2019 – Brighton – Brighton Centre Sun 03 Feb 2019 – Manchester – Victoria Warehouse Mon 04 Feb 2019 – Manchester – Victoria Warehouse Wed 06 Feb 2019 – Glasgow – O2 Academy Thur 07 Feb 2019 – Glasgow – O2 Academy Sat 09 Feb 2019 – London – O2 Academy Brixton Sun 10 Feb 2019 – London – O2 Academy Brixton |
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