‘Ampersand’ attempts to tread the fine line between consistency and monotony, but frankly falls flat on its face. While their 2019 release, ‘Doom Days’, is a good example of how to maintain an album’s theme without being repetitive, Bastille’s newest LP couldn’t have strayed further from its predecessor.
The songs ‘Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze’, ‘Red Wine & Wilde’ and ‘Intros & Narrators’ – yes every song on this album has an ampersand in its name, yes it’s annoying – are virtually indistinguishable from one another at times. Repetitive finger-picking and the subdued vocals of frontman Dan Smith dominate the three tracks, while ‘Intros’’ attempt to replicate the success of hit single ‘Pompeii’s’ famous opening falls well short of the mark. Smith undoubtedly has one of the most impressive voices in popular music, but ‘Ampersand’ fails to utilize it to the extent that previous albums had done.
Several tracks on the album show great promise. Indeed, the song ‘Blue Sky & The Painter’ is an excellent listen, despite the lyrics reading like a worse version of ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’. ‘Drawbridge & The Baroness’ is a similarly captivating experience, creating a wall of sound that would make Phil Spector blush. However, the LP fails to capitalize on its own quality. To call the songs that follow a “snooze fest” would be disingenuous as I actually quite enjoy sleeping on occasion.
While the ambition that drives ‘Ampersand’ is commendable, not much else can be said about the listening experience. The album tells a series of stories through the eyes of historical and cultural figures, whether it be Leonard Cohen or Marie Curie – a pretty neat concept, admittedly. However, the execution is hardly Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, and instead compels me to mash my head into the wall.
A concept can be as good as you like, but when the lyrics used to express that concept are of similar calibre to “what if you could end your days doing the shit you love with the people you love”, what’s the point? No wonder The Courier’s very own Bertie Kirkwood described the album as “Coldplay with swearing”. If Smith’s songwriting was as ambitious as his creative direction, he’d be onstage at the Grammy’s.
Unfortunately, the newest album represents another step down for Bastille. The three-album run of ‘Bad Blood’ (2013), ‘Wild World’ (2016), and ‘Doom Days’ (2019) is about as good as you’ll get in some indie-pop circles. The latter of three in particular was a brilliant album from start to finish, which couldn’t be said for 2022’s ‘Give Me The Future’ despite its qualities. 2024 has not improved the band’s fortunes, and ‘Ampersand’ is a forgettable and thoroughly unremarkable LP.
