BASTILLE – BAD BLOOD

“The neo-synth pop group Bastille were formed in London, England in 2010. Originally the solo project of singer/songwriter Dan Smith, Bastille expanded to a quartet after he decided to form a band and got some of his friends involved. The band attracted a lot of attention after putting a few tracks online, leading to support slots at major UK festivals like Glastonbury and the Isle of Wight. While their lush, heavily ’80s-inspired melodies, anthemic choruses, and literate, emotionally raw lyrics, delivered in Smith’s swooping voice, undoubtedly appealed to kids weaned on the sounds of La Roux and Florence + The Machine, at least part of the hype was due to the flagrantly copyright-breaching videos that Smith, an ardent film buff, edited together out of footage from old movies like Terrence Malick’s Badlands. Eventually they secured a deal with hip indie label Young and Lost Club and released their debut 7-inch single, Flaws/Icarus, in July 2011. This was followed later that year by Laura Palmer EP, named for the teenaged murder victim in David Lynch’s cult ’90s TV series Twin Peaks; the creepy accompanying video for the track “Overjoyed” was also heavily inspired by the series. The group returned in 2013 with their debut album Bad Blood.” – All Music