Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow

I really must motivate myself to do these little things more frequently. Around 150 records from 2011 covered, and barely 5 of 2014 so far. Sorry to anyone that hasn't jumped ship, yet.

Londoners Bombay Bicycle Club surprised a few of us earlier this year by managing to seize their first ever #1 album. Their fourth effort in almost as many years, So Long, See You Tomorrow sees the former channel 4 competition winners rightfully make them "big time" and after a much simpler, but equally charming indie approach in their early material (charming in the same sense that Noah and the Whale would be, were they not flung so vehemently into your ears by Nick Grimshaw's Radio 1), they now embrace all sorts of strange and wonderful samples and instruments into their sound. It wasn't until I heard Shuffle, from their last record, popping up on the soundtrack to the magnificent Sleeping Dogs game that I realised how totally unique it was; finding that one, stand-out hook in some far corner of the world would be this album's ambition, too, surely, and in some sense it succeeds.

That placing on the Hong Kong-hubbub of Sleeping Dogs almost accidentally trickles into SLSYT's opener, 'Overdone': a chaotic percussion matched sublimely with an exotic Bollywood sample, all trying to put across a feeling of emotional exhaustion. It quite works, and segues hallucinatorily into the aptly titled 'It's Alright Now'. The playing around with different sounds is immediately apparent, too; 'Carry Me' sounds almost like the band's take on a Calvin Harris EDM thumper, with its stuttering brass hook and overall feeling of hypnotic/boring repetition. On the other hand, the early noughties R&B vibe to 'Home By Now', almost the spiritual continuation of Jhene Aiko's current masterpiece Bed Peace, feels much fresher and more patient about its intentions to reel you in.

Unfortunately not a cover of Shakira (on reflection, her song may have been the other way around? I forget), 'Whenever, Wherever' is instead a tentative, yet explosive half-time show that packs all the sunny, optimistic, romantic stuff you could ask for. It heralds in 'Luna' with a psychedelic flourish, and as one of the album's earliest previews, it certainly set expectations quite high. It's probably the album's track that's mostly likely to find its way onto TV adverts for festival coverage and youth-orientated BBC Three shows, which probably sounds like a criticism but one can't begrudge the brief omnipresence of an actually talented, interesting band for a change (side-eye at The 1975).

Admittedly, the last few tracks do feel a little perfunctory: the title track in particular is your standard "we've reached the end so here's a quiet good-bye", only made the more obvious by its title I'm sure, and there's also the oddly wintry 'Eyes Off You', a ballad that many have compared to Peter Gabriel's wonderfully over-the-top Kate Bush track, but it's all lovely nonetheless. It's helpful that 'Feel', their current single, breaks up the sobriety with a rather straightforward world-town groove, even if it's so on-the-nose that it gets written off as "Eat Pray Love"ish by the forever deteriorating Pitchfork, and then 'Come To' just fully sets its sights on the year's summer circuit with a Washed Out (with added wonderful basslines) sound.

The whole record just makes me lament the days when television served as a step-ladder for as-yet-unknown bands rather than showcased the huge ones past their prime. It's probably easier to put it this way: if you like Passion Pit, you'll like this. I, of course, love them and as such may be getting ahead of myself with an 8.5 Oh well.

Rating: 8.5/10
Highlights: Home By Now; Whenever, Wherever; Overdone; Feel; Luna
Avoid: only Carry Me sticks out as a "meh" track to me, no need to avoid it though.

Artwork Watch: I like to be curt and petty in this section but honestly every artwork they've ever settled upon has been wonderful.
Up next: Lily Allen