Bastille’s day has come

The difference between a band prior to being annointed by Radio 1 and after is immeasurable.

Bastille are now destined for national stardom after being played on an almost constant basis on the popular station.

Following the success of their single Flaws, Dan Smith and his band have announced their biggest tour to date.

The band will appear at 16 cities across the UK, culminating in a show at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire on Friday March 28.

It seems there is no stopping London-based Bastille whose 
ever-increasing fanbase are clearly connecting with the band’s haunting melodies, strong narratives and rhythmic backbone.

A busy summer saw them play over 30 festivals, and culminated in a storming, tent-packed set at Reading and a live performance on BBC Three. Having only released a couple of singles, and yet to release a debut album, Bastille have already sold out two headline tours this year and last week headlined London’s Koko, which sold out months in 
advance and saw fans ecstatically singing along to every word.

Flaws is the band’s third single to be released on Virgin Records and has received great support across Radio 1 where the band has been championed by Huw Stephens and Greg James.

The single was playlisted across XFM, 6 Music, NME, Absolute and Q Radio and received huge support from indie music bloggers.

Like many Bastille songs Flaws was written and initially recorded by lead singer, songwriter and producer Dan Smith in his bedroom on an old laptop.

Like many of his songs, it sees a dialogue between characters who exist solely in the universe of each song. Like Regina Spektor, Dan’s songs are his stories; vehicles to muse on things he wants to talk about and this resonates with their fans, who find a personal element to the music.

Given the indie music maelstrom it’s a rarity to see a band achieve so much in such a short space of time but Bastille are paving their own way, creating great pop songs that are both absorbing and genre-defining.

Sure to be one of the albums to watch next year, Bastille’s Bad Blood will be released in March 2013.

n Bastille play with Two Door Cinema Club at the Barrowlands on Tuesday. For more info, visit www.ents24.com.