Bastille

Specialising in grand, yearning indie rock, Bastille recall the glamour of the 1980s new romantics and the cinematic, stadium pop of The Killers and Coldplay. Originally a solo project consisting of Dan Smith's swooning vocals and melancholic piano ballads, the band of drummer Chris Wood, keyboard player Kyle Simmons and guitarist Will Farquarson turned his songs into epic, emotional pop when they united in 2010, and together they played their first official gig as Bastille at Brighton's Great Escape Festival. Their early EP Laura Palmer (named after the murder victim in David Lynch's cult TV show Twin Peaks) caused a stir with critics and led to support slots with Two Door Cinema Club and Muse, before the single "Pompeii" became a huge YouTube hit and shot to number two in the UK. Their debut album Bad Blood in 2013 went one better, topping the charts and cementing Bastille's place as one of the breakthrough bands of the year, and they went on to headline the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury and play the Reading and Leeds festivals. In 2015, Bastille recruited a new touring member to the band – multi-instrumentalist Charlie Barnes – and the following year they released their second album Wild World, which reached number one in both the UK and Scottish Albums Charts. They collaborated with Craig David on the single "I Know You" and they followed this with 2018's album Doom Days. The single, "Happier," taken from Doom Days charted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019. In February 2022, Bastille returned with their fourth studio album, Give Me the Future, which was executive produced by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, also a respected producer and songwriter in his own right. The album features a spoken-word interlude from UK actor Riz Ahmed and explores themes surrounding technology.

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