If the question of whether a rock band can really get better with age is still up for debate,
Bombay Bicycle Club make the best possible case. Coming off a three-year hiatus, the London quartet return with their fifth studio album, 2020's Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. The album arrives six years after the equally inspired
So Long, See You Tomorrow and finds the group in a deeply ruminative mindset, looking back at their over ten-year career and grappling with getting older, experiencing renewed artistic inspiration, and moving forward in a world that seems beset by conflict, tragedy, and unrest. It's a nuanced, sophisticated mood best expressed on "Good Day," a warmly hushed anthem in which lead singer
Jack Steadman perfectly encapsulates how your worries about the state of the world can become intertwined with your innermost personal concerns. He sings, "First my looks and now my friends, day by day I'm losing them, losing them, losing collagen, losing elastin/The melting ice caps in my dreams, made me stop and think about, think about time running out." They sustain this tone throughout Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, illuminating it with fuzzy analog keyboards, neon-rich guitars, and kinetic percussion rhythms. Cuts like "Is It Real," "Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)," and the slow-burn title track are anthems that sparkle in slow motion, balancing the group's love of driving krautrock, folk music, and angular post-punk. There are also ear-popping horn and string flourishes, as on the looped saxophone intro to "Get Up," which lends the album an underlying modern creative jazz and classical texture. While much of the emotion at the center of Everything Else Has Gone Wrong feels borne out of a period of dark introspection, there's a low-key ebullience and overall strength to the music that speaks to
Bombay Bicycle Club's renewed sense of purpose. With each song, you can hear them coming further back to life. As
Steadman sings on the title track, "I guess I've found my peace again and yes, I've found my second wind." ~ Matt Collar