So Long, See You Tomorrow
3 February 2014
Island
4.5 stars out of 5
Bombay Bicycle Club’s fourth LP, So Long, See You Tomorrow, sees the band completely transformed
from a guitar-based indie rock band into an exciting and dynamic beast that can
devour all styles. Each of the ten new songs is unique in feel and approach.
Band leader Jack Steadman’s voice is at its emotive best and the rest of the
group has enthusiastically followed him on this eccentric journey through
music.
“Overdone” sets the scene: lush but not overdone
instrumentation, exciting vocal and instrumental melodies—a rock song with
ambition and the ability to back it up. “It’s Alright Now” begins to reveal the
influence of the Gothenburg scene on Steadman’s songwriting. It’s a complex
composition whose arrangement brings it focus and whose soaring chorus is
immediately gratifying though full of subtleties. With “Carry Me” the album
takes a more electronic feel, sounding a bit like Hot Chip crossed with
Yeasayer. The mid-tempo “Home by Now” is the best ballad that Stars never
wrote. “Luna” brings polyrhythmic percussion into the mix, forming the melodic
backdrop to an upbeat but disarmingly vulnerable pop song. Built upon an
incredibly simple two piano chord progression, “Eyes Off You” moves along an
achingly beautiful arc from atmospheric desolation to a warm rhythmic embrace
and back. The album closes with the title track, a nuanced composition
featuring Fleet Foxes-like vocal harmonies, oddball keyboard loops, explosive tempo
changes, and a multi-layered ecstatic chorus.
Everything on this album works, from the ambitious
arrangements to Lucy Rose’s haunting guest vocals. There isn’t a single dull
moment in the ten songs. The band doesn’t make any misteps, capably handling
every genre it chooses to mine for musical gold. An early contender for a few
year-end lists.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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