Music review | Bastille’s Wild World

Three years and one hundred and eighty-nine days later we’ve got ourselves a new album. Bastille’s second studio album was released yesterday (9th March) and it titled as “Wild World”. Before starting to write anything else, first things first, let’s just thank the gods for that – and by gods I mean Dan, Kyle, Will and Woody, because they’re really music gods. I’m sorry if this is gonna sound too mean but we gotta admit it’s the bloody truth for most cases, usually good music works take years and years to make; and it’s not like they’ve been sitting on their asses doing nothing all this time. My totally biased opinion aside, I believe they’ve been doing such a great job since “All This Bad Blood”. They’ve released four smaller-albums – one mixtape and three EPs – and sung several unreleased songs. It’s been quite the wait but I believe they’ve certainly made it worth it. And the way they promoted their new album, we couldn’t have been more spoiled than this.

To be completely honest, I have no idea what my favourite part from this album is. Is it Dan’s falsettos? Is it Dan’s voice in general? Is it the backing vocals? Is it the brilliantly orchestrated instrumental part of each song? Is it the lyrics? Is it the introductory citations? Is it the presence of different music genres in just a single album – much to OPH style? Is it their new ballads? Is it their weird, quirky music videos? Is it the freedom in the production of this album? There’s just too many positive aspects about this album. Can we also talk about the guitars and the basses? Even though we already knew around eight songs – from nineteen in total -, this album was definitely a blessing, such a wonderful gift to us fans.

*not gonna put here the “cleaner” version just because people can’t see boobs and not get aroused, like for fuck sake, we all have them, just fucking control yourselves

I am super inclined to say my favourite songs so far are exactly those eight we had already heard – “Good Grief”, “The Currents”, “Two Evils”, “Send Them Off!”, “Blame”, “Fake It”, “Snakes”, and “Campus” -, but damn “An Act of Kindness” is just one of the most beautiful things I have listened to lately. Either way, “Good Grief” does have one of my favourite lyrics from this album, and “Fake It” , “Blame”, “Snakes” and “Send Them Off!” have some of the best beats/instrumental parts of this album. The lyrics of “Lethargy” were quite interesting to listen too. And in terms of vocals, “Two Evils” will win any battle ever. And I gotta say that “War Beyond” is kinda up-beat in its own way, I love it. Guess I just found the perfect album to accompany me on the upcoming academic year.

This didn’t turn out into a very “professional” review, but what can I do, I really cannot be biased when it comes to Bastille. It was definitely one of the best discoveries I made in 2013/2014. I have always been severely inclined to artists in the alternative/indie niche, since my early teenage years, so I couldn’t have found a better fit then them. I honestly haven’t listened to much R&B, electronic, pop and so on since I was a teenager, and it’s all thanks to Bastille that I’ve been sort of re-discovering this music genres now. They must have ears of genius – or they’re really gods – because their mixtapes are seriously the best thing I’ve listened to of this kind. And their remixes are works of genius too – I’m sorry but adding a DJ vibe to a song doesn’t make up for a good remix, it’s just a bloody normal song with a disco beat.

Don’t to be too pretentious or anything like that, but I just love that they’re not mainstream at all. I have literally stopped listening to some artists because they’re really not innovating at all, and their lyrics are so vague and soulless. With the due credit to other artist that I listen and have listened before,  Bastille does have some of the best lyrics I’ve seen in the last couple of years; kinda just like those films where you can truly identify with the characters portrayed, here you just identify yourself with Dan’s words and thoughts. In this respect, I do am a little sad that one of my favourite unreleased songs from them – “Grip” – was not included on this album. I couldn’t recommend more “Wild World” to everyone.

If I could travel… #5

Whenever and wherever I wanted to, right now I would be here: Biddinghuizen

I think I will continue to complain about my bad luck when it comes to concerts until the day I get to see Bastille live (or Imagine Dragons or HAIM or god knows who else I can come up with in the next months). Not that being in a certain country guarantees you a huge number of concerts a priori – well unless you’re in the UK or in the States – but I felt a bit disappointed about the lack of concerts – non-mainstream ones I mean – in the Netherlands in the past year. But now that I’m not there anymore, it actually doesn’t suck that much.

I’m not a fan of festival – big crowds are not my thing – but this one would definitely convince me. The Lowlands Festival has been held at Biddinghuizen, in the Netherlands, since 1993, the year of the first edition of this festival. It started yesterday (21 August) and will last until tomorrow (23 August). My fascination for this year’s edition is because Bastille and Bleachers are going to perform. Well Bleachers have already performed yesterday. Bastille’s gig will be today.

Obviously Bastille isn’t the only big band featured in this festival, so this festival is actually even better than it sounds at first. Something that I don’t understand from the poster is the non-mention of Bastille as one of the head-bands. But that’s just a detail I guess.

30 Day Music Challenge #30

A song that reminds you of yourself…

Eu não escolhi esta música por causa da sua letra, nem mesmo por causa da música em si. No entanto, eu escolhi-a porque ela relembra-me de uma versão minha mais nova. Ela relembra-me de uma melhor versão de mim, quando eu tinha cerca de 12/13 anos. Eu não acredito que haja algum detalhe específico nesta música que faça o meu cérebro associá-la a esses dois anos. Eu penso que é apenas uma ligação que o meu cérebro fez entre esta música e aqueles dois anos, porque naquela altura eu era um pouco obcecada por este cantor.

I didn’t choose this song because of its lyrics, and not even for the song itself. I did choose it however because it reminds me a younger me. It reminds me of a better myself when I was about 12/13 years old. I don’t think there’s nothing specific in this song that takes my mind to those years. I think it’s just a connection my brain made with those years, since at that time I was a bit too obsessed with this singer.

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?

30 Day Music Challenge #29

A song that you remember from your childhood…

Eu não sei bem que idades é que se enquadram exactamente naquilo que designamos como “infância”, mas de certeza que incluem os anos que passamos na Primária, e foi com base nisso que eu optei por esta música. Ainda me lembro, como se fossem ontem, de ouvir esta música na minha antiga PlayStation One. Bons velhos tempos… É um hábito ao qual só recorro agora em situações extremas, mas naquela altura eu basicamente adormecia todas as noites com música, que ficava a tocar lentamente na minha PlayStation One. Imagino que não fosse só o Sting que eu ouvia nesta alturas, mas esta música ficou-me sempre na memória, mesmo ao fim destes anos todos.

I don’t know exactly what’s the age range of what we call childhood, but I’m pretty sure it includes the years spent at Primary school, so it was based on this thought that I chose this song. I still remember, as if it were yesterday, listening to this song on my old PlayStation One. Good old time indeed… This is a habit to which I refer only in extreme situations, but at that time I basically fell asleep every night with music that would play slowly on my PlayStation One. I am pretty sure Sting wasn’t the only artist I listened too in those situations, but the truth is that this song has been engraved in my memory since them, even after all these years.

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?

Holland: Nate Ruess @ Cloud Nine, Utrecht

I have a bit of a déjà vu feeling towards this concert, to be honest. I know it was not the same thing as the one of Fun. I attended three years ago, but the circumstances were pretty similar. Both small concerts had little advertisement, both were in small venues close to main train stations in their respective cities, almost starting at an equal time. Not that I’ve had much experience on concerts so far, but I do prefer these ones. It’s so much more intimate and I think that’s worth a lot more than sold-out concerts for thousands of people. And there’s always a great plus when it comes to these concerts, they are a lot more cheap than the other ones. Not that it matters in some cases but it’s always nice when we can save some money.

It wasn’t exactly the best day to wait in line for a concert because it was quite cloudy and raining for most of the day, but I mean concerts are always worth it. Or at least, some concerts are worth it, others not so much. Since I’ve never been to Utrecht before I thought it would be a good idea to wonder around for a bit, but since the weather wasn’t feeling like helping yesterday, I decided to only go to city close to the opening of the venue’s doors. So the only thing I actually saw of the city was its train station and the venue, which is pretty big – the concert was in the 9th floor (quite the pain in the ass to get there).

This was without a doubt one of the best days I’ve had so far in 2015. It was absolutely amazing. And the concert was… just… perfect. Honestly, I don’t think there are enough words to describe how awesome it was. I’m pretty sure what I’ve already comment on my 2012 Fun. concert applies entirely to this concert, because after all Nate Ruess was their vocalist (well he still is). He’s the soul of any show because he’s amazingly talented. You’d expect that he would sound the same as in his studio songs, but his actual voice manages to be way better. I really have no words to describe it. It’s just one of those experiences than one has to live through to know how it feels. The show was amazing as it always is with him. And honestly he is absolutely adorable and sweet. I’m glad that he’s touring with Emily and Nate again – they were part of Fun.‘s tour band, and I love the four new editions to the band – I’d say three but I’m not sure if the drummer was Will or not (can’t really remember how he looks) [update: yes, it is him indeed]. It was a really amazing night and now all I want is to attend the next few concerts of this tiny tour.

Small venues are really one of the best things ever. Shows in venues like this are always the best because they are way more intimate: there’s fewer people and a lot less confusion. I think we were about 100 people so that was almost like a private concert, even though I wish there were more people there to support the artist, y’know. I got to be in the first row and this time it felt like I was almost on top of the stage. It felt amazing having Nate Ruess sing right in front of me but it was very intimidating too. All in all it was an amazing experience and I do hope I can see him again in the future (let’s just hope I don’t have to wait another three years for another chance like this). Now excuse me while I enter a state of post-concert depression.

I though about taking my DSLR camera with me, since it’s the only one I have, but I was too afraid to break it during the concert or not being allowed in the venue with it, so no camera for me this time. At least, it frees you from any photography duty and allows you to pay a lot more attention to the actual concert. So this time I am only posting photos that I took with my phone (you can find two very short videos on the blog’s Instagram account too). I’m sorry that their quality isn’t that great but it was the best I managed, considering that my phone died several times during the concert.

There shall be a concert in 2015!

There is still hope people; there is still hope…

Being in the Netherlands, yet temporarily, made me think from the beginning that this would be a good chance to go to a few concerts. I mean, it’s the Netherlands, it’s Amsterdam, who wouldn’t want to come here right? Well apparently everyone. I had really high hopes that I would be able to see a couple of my favourite bands this year, but soon I realised it wasn’t gonna happen.

For starters, Bastille are now preparing their second album which means no tour at all, at least until September (according to the rumours that’s when they’re gonna release the album). If they do a tour at the end of the year, I won’t be in the Netherlands so it won’t really matter, and god knows if they’ll go to Portugal again.

Then while Imagine Dragons are already on tour and they’ll come to Europe, for some obscure reason it will only be to a few countries. They may do others at the beginning of 2016 but there aren’t many news about that. And I’d thought they would come to the Netherlands for sure, but nope, not at all. Germany? Yes. France? Yes. Belgium? Yes. Denmark? Yes. Netherlands? No. Well, either way, by the time they’ll come to Europe, I won’t be here, so…

And then there’s Walk the Moon, who are also currently on tour, in the States, obviously. Where everyone goes… Damn you guys. Apart from a few concerts in the UK, which unfortunately I could never attend, there’s nothing schedule for Europe. Yet because I do hope they’ll come back.

Well, there was always the chance to go to a few summer festivals, but to be honest, I don’t feel like paying +150€ to just see one band perform. I mean, I’ve done it before and because I deeply regret it now, I know it would be a huge mistake to do it again.

However, exactly one week ago I received such great and amazing news on my email. I’d like to thank my always present curiosity to see what are the e-mails that I have on my junk folder, because that’s when I realised I’d have a chance to go to a concert this year. YEAH!

Long story short: I’m going to Nate Ruess’ concert in Utrecht. I’m really excited and so looking forward to this concert. These little treats for ourselves are the best things in the world, honestly. And I’ve been dying to see him ever since I saw Fun. live back in October 2012. I can’t believe it’s been almost three years now… Time does really fly by. He was probably one of the last artists I ever thought about seeing live again, so I guess things do happen when we least expect them to.

Fun. aren’t over, Nate, Andrew and Jack are just taking a little time off from the band and are currently working on their solo projects. Nate will release his album in June and before that he’s doing a little tour around Europe and the USA, as you can see in the picture. I’ve already listened to two of his new songs (I posted one of them in my last post, you can see it here) and they are amazing, and completely his style.

One of the things that I like about this concert is that it’s gonna be similar to the one of Fun. that I attended in Lisbon. Both venues are super small, which means a more intimate concert. The venue in Utrecht has room for only 400 to 600 people. I guess I’ve had enough of big crowds. Another aspect that I’m really looking forward is the prospectives of having some of the people who performed with Fun. performing now with Nate. I’ll be really happy if Emily and Will join him in this tour.

30 Day Music Challenge #28

A song by an artist with a voice that you love…

Eu não acredito que ainda não acabei este desafio. E tenho a certeza que já o ando a fazer há mais de um ano. Mas para ser sinceramente, a verdade é que muito facilmente me esqueço que ainda estou a fazer isto. Está quase a acabar no entanto. Mais uma vez, eu não fui capaz de escolher apenas um artista e já foi bem difícil escolher só estes três. Felizmente, o que não falta por ai são artistas com um grande talento. O Jamie Callum tem uma voz espectacular, ainda mais nos seus concertos, e aquela foi uma das minhas actuações favoritas da noite (sem dúvida um dos melhores dias que eu já tive). O facto de que foi cantada a cappella ainda teve um efeito maior na audiência e ainda tornou a actuação mais perfeita. Eu penso que me apaixonei pela voz do Nate Ruess na primeira vez que ouvi uma das suas músicas. Ele é absolutamente brilhante e as versões acústicas das suas músicas são simplesmente espectaculares. Eu não podia estar mais entusiasmada acerca do seu album a solo. Eu tenho a certeza que irá ser tão bom tal como a sua nova música (o último vídeo). É perfeita e eu já me apaixonei por ela. E eu sei que os Fun. e o Nate Ruess são basicamente o mesmo porque ele é, no fundo, o vocalista dos Fun., mas em minha defesa, a banda e a sua carreira a solo são duas coisas diferentes, e além do mais, o Andrew até canta um bocado na música dos Fun., por isso esta foi uma escolha válida.

I can’t believe I haven’t finished this challenge. I’m sure I’ve been doing this for more than a year. But to be honest, sometimes I do forget that I am still doing this. It’s almost over though. Once again, I couldn’t just choose one artist and it was really tough to just choose these three. Fortunately, there are (and have been) several very talented singers out there. Jamie Cullum has an amazing voice, even more in his live shows, and that was one of my favourite performances of that concert (definitely one of the best days I’ve ever had). The fact that it was sung a cappella made it even more perfect. I think I feel in love with Nate Ruess‘ voice since the moment I first heard one of his songs. He’s absolutely brilliant and the acoustic versions of his songs are just bloody amazing. I couldn’t be more excited about his upcoming solo album. I’m sure it will be as amazing as his new song (the last video). It’s so perfect and I’ve already feel in love with it. I know that Fun. and Nate Ruess are pretty much the same because he is indeed the vocalist of Fun., but in my defence the band and his solo career are two different things, and plus, Andrew does sing a bit in the song from Fun., so this was a valid choice.

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?

30 Day Music Challenge #27

A song that breaks your heart…

Acho que a letra e o vídeo desta música falam por si sós. Penso que comentários são desnecessários. Há uns quantos casos em que os vídeos nada têm a ver com as suas músicas, mas este é definitivamente um dos melhores vídeos feitos de sempre. É simples mas super eficaz, e eu penso que representa esta música na perfeição (no pun intended).

I think the lyrics and music video of this song speak for themselves. I think further comments are unnecessary. There are some cases when music videos have nothing to do with the their songs, but this is definitely one of the best made music videos of all time. It is simple but super effective, and I believe it represents perfectly the lyrics (no pun intended).

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?

30 Day Music Challenge #26

A song that makes you want to fall in love…

Eu não fazia mínima ideia de que música é que poderia escolher para esta categoria. Eu não penso que exista uma música que tenha tal efeito em mim. Mas esta música realmente é muito bonita e foi a primeira de que me lembro, por isso, aqui a têm como a minha escolha.

I had no idea of what song I could choose for this category. I don’t think there is a song that has such an effect on me. But this song is really pretty and was the first one that I come up with, so I stuck with it and here it is as my choice.

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?

30 Day Music Challenge #25

A song by an artist no longer living…

Eu tenho quase a certeza que eu tinha dezenas de outras escolhas, mas verdade seja dita, ela foi a primeira artista de que me lembrei. Honestamente, não sei bem o que dizer mais desta vez. Ela tinha uma voz mesmo espectacular e única. Realmente, é uma pena que ela tenha partido. Eu não tenho nenhuma razão particular para ter escolhido esta música. Ela é simplesmente uma das minhas “covers” favoritas dela.

I’m pretty sure I could have gone with a dozen other choices, but truth be told she was the first artist that popped up in my head. I’m not exactly sure what else I can say this time. She had a great and amazing voice. It really is a shame that she’s gone. No particular reason for having chosen this song; it it simply one of my favourites covers done by her.

Que canção é que escolheriam? | Which song would you choose?