Bombay Bicycle Club’s front-man Jack Steadman did some traveling in the time leading up to the recording of the bands latest album So Long, See You Tomorrow. Steadman traveled all over the world while writing the songs for Bombay Bicycle Club’s latest album and found inspiration within Europe, Tokyo, Turkey, the Netherlands, and India. This new worldly tone really shines throughout the album.
In the past Bombay Bicycle Club’s albums have been vastly different from one and other; which is somewhat admirable, but to me also showed a lack of identity within the band. Then when A Different Kind Of Fix came out in 2011 the band really started to solidify their sound. This album quickly became a favorite of mine and not because “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep” was featured on the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack featuring sparkling vampires and sexy werewolves. I loved it because it was an album full of captivating tunes and some of the coolest bass riffs of all time and now with the release of So Long, See You Tomorrow Bombay Bicycle Club has defined their sound even more.
The album begins with “Overdone” and features a chorus sung on top of husky guitar solos and psychedelic electronic loops, “I see we’ve come through wasted time” and yet I don’t think they wasted any time. Bombay Bicycle Club seems to be earnestly expanding and the new turn they’ve taken seems to be working out in their favor. Another highlight is the striking marimba line and crashing cymbals behind “Luna”, which also features a perfect duet with the up-and-coming Rae Morris?a great addition to the overall soft, refined tone Bombay Bicycle Club has taken. Over halfway through the album Steadman slows things down with the sorrowful, heartbroken “Eyes Off You”, then So Long, See You Tomorrow quickly mesmerizes the listener with the snake charmer-esque sounds of an electronic pungi during “Feel”?definitely a song inspired by Jack’s travels throughout India. The album ends with the title track where Steadman tries his best to put you to sleep with his soft, soothing vocals.
Overall, So Long, See You Tomorrow is an album that certainly has multiple influences throughout the world; especially instrumentally, which make this a set of songs that you can definitely dance to. Steadman’s travels and time away from the band seemed to have helped Bombay Bicycle Club as whole to hone their sound and find themselves musically. So Long See You Tomorrow is an album that fills my snyth-pop taste buds and refreshes my palette leaving me wanting more.
Rating: 4/5