“Maybe they thought it would kind of confuse people…it probably did to be fair [laughs]”.
Bombay Bicycle Club have always been a band to watch. The four lads from Crouch End like to push themselves and take risks, keeping fans on their toes. I asked drummer, Suren De Saram how they’ve managed to do what they want whilst keeping everyone happy. “Our label have been very good to us really, I mean considering it’s a major label. They’ve trusted us from the beginning and given us time to experiment.”
Moving away from the jangly indie-rock of 2009’s lead single ‘Always Like This’, the band made a decision that didn’t go down particularly well, releasing trimmed down second album, Flaws. “I think they [the label] were a bit unsure about us releasing an acoustic album as a follow up to our first. Maybe they thought it would kind of confuse people…it probably did to be fair [laughs]”.
It seems like they’ve took another gamble with their new album. ‘So Long See You Tomorrow’ sees the first time the band have taken full responsibility of their work. “We actually ended up self-producing the latest album, which wasn’t actually the original plan. So again the label were a little bit sceptical at the idea. But they let us go ahead with it and everyone’s happy with it.”
Naming things hasn’t always been the bands strength (they’re named after a chain of Indian Restaurants). The latest album title sounds more ‘archaic nicety’ than ‘progressive electronic project’. “That was actually Jamie, our guitarist’s suggestion and it’s from the name of a novel by William Maxwell, an American author. I think the book’s about a murder in the 1920’s, but the actual content of the book doesn’t really relate to the album at all.”
Sitting within the confines of one genre doesn’t seem to be on the bands agenda. Their sound has evolved through each subsequent release, showing that they don’t shy away from a more experimental approach. “On the last album we started introducing more electronics and playing around with sampling. Something like ‘Shuffle’ is kind of based around a chopped up piano sample. With ‘So Long…’ it’s taking those electronic and sampling aspects to the next level really”.
Previous album, A Different Kind Of Fix, was heavily influenced by singer Jack Steadman’s solo material. Sampled and looped sounds merged with the rest of the bands instrumentation. Suren is keen to explain how those techniques have leaked into the new material. “A lot of songs on the album are quite loop based. The album as a whole is actually one big loop, because the very first melody you hear on the opening track is also the same melody you hear at the very end of the album.”
Lucy Rose has figured significantly in the bands output so far, using her soft, heartfelt vocal to the bands advantage. “Lucy is still singing on quite a lot of this album and there’s also a girl called Rae Morris (see new single ‘Luna’) who is a sort of up and coming singer-songwriter. Both Rae and Lucy are really great singers with very different voices”. The band seem to be really enjoying making music at the moment, following their creative voice. By the sounds of it, their latest risk has paid off too.
‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ was released on the 3rd of February and the band will play Newcastle’s 02 Academy in March.
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