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- Dan Smith, the lead singer of Bastille.
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- 1. Bastille. (From left to right): Will Farquarson, Dan Smith, Kyle Simmons, and Chris Wood.
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- 1. “Wild World” is Bastille’s second released album.
Ethan Lichtenberg
Bastille was founded in 2010 by lead singer and solo artist, Dan Smith. The band’s name refers to Smith’s birthday which is July 14th or “Bastille Day.” Since the founding of the group, Bastille has earned several music awards and sold over 10 million albums. Some noteworthy awards include Brit Awards, Billboard Music Awards, World Music Awards, and Grammy Awards. They decided to create “Wild World,” the album incorporates their classic vibe but with a new flare in guitar sound. The popular British band’s new album focuses on lessons learned through hardships and the road to recovery from beat-downs. In their most lyrically relatable album yet, Bastille’s “Wild World” is expected to be their most anticipated album yet.
In “Wild World,” Smith combines his powerful vocals and meaningful lyrics with Bastille’s 80’s pop beats to create a sound that is different than any other. The album is about the very real feelings that we deal with in what Smith calls a “wild world.” He dissects situations involving fear, power, abusive relationships, grief, and enemies. Using explicit lyrics, Smith tells great background stories behind these powerful feelings. “Wild World” has tough shoes to fill, with their debut album “Bad Blood” being a smash hit in both the U.K. and the United States, fans have been left wondering if they can outdo themselves with this new album. Bastille’s new album is in competition with their most famous song, “Pompeii,” regarding songs that hit as deep and still make heads nod. There is no question as to whether Bastille has outshone their previous hits, as there are countless songs on “Wild World” that are reminiscent of that favorable “Pompeii” vibe, such as “Snakes,” and “Blame.”
A new hit song off of the album is “Blame.” Smith has stated that it is “a super simple snapshot of two rival gang members.” The song analyzes the relationship between two enemies, the harsh unharmonious beat, and feel it adds to the dark atmosphere. With lyrics such as “you can sleep with the fishes; there’s no room for you here,” the song speaks of wanting to kill a rival gang member. Smith’s vocals radiate the bad energy that comes from enemies, talking in hopes that the opponent will surrender to him so that he must fight the urge to kill him. “Blame” has a deeper meaning, in that enemies may come, but it is important to learn to turn the other way and just move on, if not, your enemy will impede your life in more ways than one. The lesson taught in “Blame,” is that you should not let your enemies invade your mind or you will become just as weak as they are.
The use of guitar riffs has added a new flare to “Wild World.” “Simply because I couldn’t play guitar before,” said Dan Smith in a recent interview. Bastille’s improved novel audio techniques and power vocals add to the relatable lyrics in “Wild World.” Throughout the album, each song brings variety concerning sound. The song, “Four Walls (The Ballad of Perry Smith)” has a slow indie feeling, as compared to “Snakes,” which has very upbeat vibe and 80’s pop feel to it. “Wild World” appeals to a broad audience because of its audio variety and lyrical relatability.” The continuing success of Bastille will be determined by if one of the songs off of this album can outshine “Pompeii.”
