Just a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the album launch of Bastille’s new album “&”, hosted at The 1865 in Southampton.

Only a 500-capacity venue, it was an incredibly intimate gig, mainly showcasing a handful of songs from the new release. They of course also threw in their biggest hit Pompeii, however a stripped back version, very different to anything I’ve heard previously.

As a whole, one of my favourite aspects of Bastille is their conceptualism when it comes to songwriting. This reaches back to their very first album in 2013, with songs such as Icarus, Laura Palmer and Oblivion. They take some of the most iconic fictional and non-fictional, historic characters and construct a song about their experiences, mirroring those experiences to that of their own. This has carried through to their recent album “&” (Ampersand), with songs such as ‘Eve & Paradise Lost’, ‘Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze’ and ‘Marie & Polonium’.

It is utterly fascinating to look into the background of these titles, specifically ‘Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze’. His chat with Apple Music beautifully sums up my point of how skilled Dan Smith (and the rest of Bastille) are with their song writing.

‘An incredible French opera singer from the 17th century, Julie d’Aubigny, who had an amazing life and once broke her girlfriend out of a nunnery by burning it down. I wanted to write about that sweeping love story and the two of them not caring about the constraints of her time.’ – Dan Smith via Apple Music

Throughout the album you can tell that each song was carefully constructed with love and dedication. Every song has a backstory and no songs are to be taken at face value. There is a multitude of focuses, from historical figures who have been forgotten, such as the female Zheng Yi Sao, who led the most successful pirate fleet in history, to philosophical dilemmas unearthed in the song ‘Drawbridge & The Baroness’, and religious themes in ‘Eve and Paradise Lost’.

Sitting at 51 minutes, it is an incredibly chilled back record, with a heavy focus on vocals and guitar. It is extremely different to some of their old records which tend to focus more on the pop/indie style. However, it is safe to say that Bastille have never conformed to any genre, dabbling in a little bit of everything, both as a standalone band and in collaborations.

I’d like to call out a few favourite songs:

• Blue Sky & The Painter
• Drawbridge & The Baroness
• Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky

The addition of BIM on ‘The Soprano & Midnight Wonderings’ is a wonderful surprise and adds another layer to the album. The mix between her and Dan’s vocals add depth and impact to the song, keep the listener on their toes as they make their way through the album.

Another song which really stands out lyrically to me is Marie & Polonium. It is connected to the life of Marie Curie and her discovery of Polonium, which did eventually kill her. The lyrics detail Curie’s experience of pushing against the society she lived in to become an educated woman, this is explicitly stated in the lyric ‘But what you supposed to do, do ,do when the world that you’re changing just don’t seem to like you?’. Bastille’s lyrics are so beautifully written that I find that I can take my own personal stance on their meanings. Where they write ‘Oh love deeper even if it kills ya’, clearly referring to the radiation poisoning Marie Curie eventually died of, my personal take on this removes the comment from the context, instead reading it more as to throw myself into things I love, no matter the consequence. The following line ‘Marie’s got the answers’ I think also reflects the idea that despite her own discovery tragically causing her death, that even in her passing she has had the satisfaction of finding the answer. Joining the lyrics together, for me, implies that death is worth it, as it gives you the satisfaction of finding the answers, but also allows you to put your everything into something you love and are passionate about.

I received my album in the post and was both happily surprised and slightly disappointed. What happened to a proper album case?! Why is it just a sleeve now!! I have to say though, the art is simple but effective. The name ‘Ampersand’ refers to the symbol ‘&’ (something I didn’t know), and this is interesting as every single song on the album, from Intros & Narrators all the way to Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024 had an’&’.m.

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The Gig

The 1865 is a small venue in Southampton, it looks very inconspicuous from the outside and without Google, you’d never guess it was a venue. I attended a tribute act for Sam Fender, the Arctic Monkeys and The Killer’s last year, so I was lucky enough to know about the limited parking behind the venue.

With a capacity of only 500, it is a very intimate concert. However, despite being a very small venue, it doesn’t guarantee you a good view. If you’re lucky enough to get there early, there is a balcony/upstairs that will let you look over the general crowd and stage. Unfortunately though, if you don’t get there with enough time to secure this spot, you are left fighting for a view on the main floor.

I stand at a strong 5″6, and a result of this is that sometimes I spend the whole gig dodging heads, and it’s a shame that I spent a lot of this album launch doing this. Dan Smith and his accompanying musicians spent the majority of the show sat down, which again didn’t help with my view. However, the atmosphere in there was alive. He may have played quite a few slow songs, however at no point did it feel as though the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement dropped.

One of the best parts of the show was when Dan asked for everyone to put their phones away. He and his fellow guitarist and pianist were going to play ‘Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze’ live for the first time. Not only is it stressful enough to play a new song in front of a crowd, no matter the size, but he also sings in French too, a language which he is not fluent in. To summarise, he didn’t want permanent evidence on the internet of him screwing it up. It felt wonderful as a spectator to be fully in the moment, no phones up in the air, no worrying about angles and the sound of the crowd singing on video. Just fully experiencing a brand new song and vulnerability of the artist to play it for us for the first time.

It was a very very short gig, just over an hour long. Honestly, I felt a little bit disappointed by this as I hoped to hear a mix of their old and new stuff. My previous album launch concerts (5SOS and Sea Girls) saw an array of music throughout different times of the band’s life, so to only hear Pompeii and have a concert be just a little over an hour was a little bit upsetting! It was also an interesting concert as you could tell that Dan Smith was nervous when playing the new songs and even had a notebook of lyrics on the stage with him! This however brought a sense of true authenticity to the gig, but also a little humour as he was struggling to fill the awkward talking spots between each song, continuously asking the crowd “you doing okay?”, which after the 3rd or 4th time earned a few chuckles here and there. The relaxed nature of the concert was a welcome difference to the last few gigs I have attended. There was an overall atmosphere of appreciation and anticipation to hear new music, a small room full of people who were all equally as excited to hear Dan and the new release.

As a whole, I have always enjoyed Bastille concerts, and was lucky enough to see them at Brixton in 2018. This concert has really thrust me back into a Bastille obsession, as they slowly creep away from the heavy hitting drums of Wild World and Bad Blood, but still maintain their signature introspective song writing style and catchy hooks. There is still a mix of upbeat songs, and more reflective tracks, a true representation of their versatility as an artist. You never know where they are going to turn to next with their music, therefore they always make the first album listen an experience.

Whilst this is definitely not my favourite Bastille album (Bad Blood will always have my heart), this is definitely be an album which will be played as background music for the next few months. I have already started listening whilst at work as I wade through Excel sheets and emails, with some of my colleagues taking an interest in the album art, as well as what the concert was like.

I have been left with one question though. It was just Dan Smith… Where is the rest of Bastille?