Released 2/4/2014
7/7 Stars
Bombay Bicycle Club's most recent record So Long, See You Tomorrow is arguably the group's most critically successful effort to date, topping both the UK Album and US Heatseekers Albums charts, along with being the London quartet's first US charter on this side of the pond. Backed by the powerful first single "Carry Me," Bombay accesses an electronica gold mine that carries consistently through this 10-track masterpiece.
So Long heavily utilizes drone-like samples and loops along with influences from Middle Eastern drumbeats, most notably heard on late album track "Feel," likely inspired by the album's composition during songwriter and frontman Jack Steadman's excursion through countries like India and Turkey. The band also brings back a technique heard on previous albums with the syncing of instrument and vocal melodies, specifically with Steadman's vocal take smoothly coinciding with the piano riff during the hook of "Whenever, Wherever" and the rhythmic hand-holding between the vocals and smashed drum beats by Suren de Saram heard on "Luna."
The rhythmic togetherness of this body of work is the stand out point; there are no ripping guitar solos or screaming, over-the-top vocal showcases. It instead shines as a cohesive unit, strongly driven by vocal layers, de Saram's drum performance, and bass tracking done by Steadman, Jamie MacColl and Ed Nash. And while on the topic of cohesiveness, let's point out the impeccable flow of So Long, with the aforementioned loops and samples providing a building surface to create each subsequent song. This is not an album for you to start in the middle; each listen requires the near-45 minute commitment to hear the entire collection of songs not only because you have to, but also because you'll want to.
Piggy backing on their 2010 "Best New Band" win at the NME Awards over bands like The XX and indie rock powerhouse Mumford & Sons, Bombay Bicycle Club had big shoes to fill (including those of former winners like Arctic Monkeys and MGMT). The occasion was willingly risen to, with the band releasing possibly their most successful and most creative effort to date. So Long, See You Tomorrow solidifies this group into "must hear" territory, with one of the most well-composed and well put together records to hit shelves in a long, long time.
