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having to go down the legal route of getting things cleared this time with Wild World . But going down the official route was a very interesting process for me , seeing the boring intricacies of how that would work .”
Smith had no idea that his vision for Bad Blood would hit such a responsive chord with listeners , to the tune of nearly eight million records sold , worldwide . Bastille – so-named because his birthday falls on July 14 , France ’ s annual celebration of Bastille Day – was also nominated for a Grammy , and four 2014 Brit Awards , of which it won one for Best British Breakthrough Act . Naturally , its panoramic material soon began popping up in film and television soundtracks , like Teen Wolf , Made In Chelsea , The Vampire Diaries , even the animated Mr . Peabody and Sherman . And the band has a playful sense of humor about projects that it chooses – for the soundtrack to last year ’ s Kill Your Friends
sample on “ Send Them Off !,” Smith searched in vain through Italian sci-fi movie archives for the original print – or any information about it – which he ’ d first heard dubbed in stilted English . No such luck . So – rather than take any licensing chances – he decided to revise it and retool it to what it is now , the cryptic muttering “ It was a slight on my honor . So he deserved it .”
Working with co-producer Mark Crew again , Bastille added more jagged guitars to their usually fluid synthesizer centered mix , as on the riff-happy “ Blame ,” which lyrically sketches a standoff between two gangsters . And they added plush strings to cloak the grim truths of “ The Currents ,” a study of dangerous demagogues , loosely inspired by Trump and Conservative British Brexit agitator Nigel Farage . And Smith loves the contrast of “ Good Grief ,” whose video boasts his disembodied head crooning moribund lyrics to an irresistibly bouncy melody . “ I ’ ve lost all my grandparents and various other people in my life ,” he sighs . “ And funerals are such an odd situation , because they ’ re like this coping mechanism and a celebration of someone ’ s life . But meanwhile , you ’ re battling with
( director Owen Harris ’ black-humored adaptation of John Niven ’ s eponymous music-industry-skewering novel ), they chose to cover The Sugababes frothy first single “ Overload .” Which might be Smith ’ s greatest attribute – he simply refuses to take himself too seriously .
Ergo , he happily went down the legal rabbit hole for the Wild World album opener “ Good Grief ,” he laughs , which crackles to life with Kelly LeBrock ' s archly intoned line from Weird Science : “ So – what would you little maniacs like to do first ?” First , there was lots of red tape to sort through . “ And it all boiled down to finally getting an E-mail from Kelly herself , saying , ‘ Yeah , I love this song . Cool – let ’ s do it ! And if you ever need me to come and play live with you , I ’ m available !’” Smith says . “ And we were like ‘ Whaaaat ?!’ People could be quite confused , thinking , ‘ Is this some sort of performance piece ?’ We ’ re not going to turn up – we ’ ll just send Kelly LeBrock out onstage to do the gig for us !”
The bottom line , Smith adds , “ Is that I ’ m just generally a huge and massive fan . And I just don ’ t believe in snobbery at all , in music or in film . And everything ’ s subjective , of course . And while art is there to challenge , also – to a lot of people – it ’ s there as entertainment . And as a band , it ’ s interesting – I definitely have the most pretentious taste in film . But it ’ s nice to offset that that with other stuff that ’ s just really enjoyable .” Sometimes , he ’ s hit an aesthetic cul de sac . For the 1970s-era dialogue
these quiet , confused feelings and trying to get your head around someone not being there anymore . So I tried to capture the frenetic , mad drama that situation entails .”
The Wild World cover photograph follows Bad Blood suit . Resembling a film poster billed as a presentation from Bad Steel , it features two people perched precariously on a skyscraper ledge , a cityscape framed beautifully – perhaps ominously -- in the background . Look at it long enough , and you ’ ll get a dizzying case of vertigo . “ We ’ re really happy with that shot ,” Smith enthuses . “ It ’ s a visual version of what the album is about . And the whole point of the image is to present something that you can ’ t not try to write a narrative into , because you ’ re thrown into this situation , this moment . And it ’ s entirely up to the listener to write the story of how they got up there , and what happens next . For me , it ’ s quite a nice , simple visual of two friends just sitting there , in the context of this mad , wide world , and surveying their in the city , and in the wider madness of all this stuff that we ’ ve created .”
With perhaps one grumbling to the other , “ You forgot the fucking sandwiches ? Again ?” Smith guffaws . Maybe , he says . “ Or like , ‘ Dude ! Where ’ s your camera ? You seriously didn ’ t bring it ?’” august 2016 illinoisentertainer . com 49