Album Review: Bombay Bicycle Club - 'Everything Else Has Gone Wrong'
The world has changed since we last heard from Bombay Bicycle Club, but they’re back for a second crack of the whip and back on top with the release of their fifth album ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’.
2015 was the last time we saw this four-piece following a triumphant homecoming show at London’s Earls Court, and for five years, fans could only believe that was the last time that they would see Bombay Bicycle Club. A constant up to that point having released four LPs in the six years before their hiatus.
The band had been very open about the bleak possibility of them coming together again for new music or even playing live, but time has proven the greatest healer for the Londoners on both fronts with a nationwide tour accompanying the release of the LP throughout January and February including two nights at the iconic Alexandra Palace.
A lot has changed in the years that Bombay have been away, but ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’ has proven that class is permanent as the quartet have produced their finest work yet. I had a hunch that this album could be something special following the release of the first single ‘Eat Sleep Wake (Nothing But You)’ at the end of last year, something so quintessentially Bombay Bicycle Club but sounding so fresh at the same time.
Rejuvenation is a theme throughout this LP, and you sense that this band have fallen back in love with music again. The experimental side of the band’s music is still woven throughout, right from the opening of ‘Get Up’ which is a combination of heavy riffs and 8-bit videogame inspired production which sets the tone nicely.
From the infectiously uplifting ‘Is It Real?’ to the folky stylings of ‘Racing Stripes’, this LP is 11 tracks of delight and certainly an early contender for the album of 2020. After such a long hiatus, it could have easily went wrong for Bombay Bicycle Club but thankfully this four-piece have found their “second wind” and ‘Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’ is the start of what we can only hope is a long second stint for Bombay Bicycle Club.
Words by Danial Kennedy