Bastille have announced a new album, ‘&’ (Ampersand).
Set for release on 25th October, the project, led by Dan Smith, is described as a collection of story songs that intertwine the lives of various characters, including poets, artists, anthropologists, scientists, and figures from religion and myth.
‘&’ will be released in four parts leading up to the full album launch. Part One, which is out now, includes four tracks that introduce the record. There’s the opening track, ‘Intros & Narrators’, alongside ‘Eve & Her Paradise Lost’, which explores themes of blame and shame imposed on women, ‘Seasons & Narcissus’, described as a “curious, twisted love song between someone and their own reflection”, and ‘Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky’, which focuses on the life of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson.
The album aims to uncover stories of individuals often misunderstood or neglected by mainstream history. It also includes a personal touch, with a song inspired by Smith’s family, connecting him to his father’s poetry and his mother’s singing.
Smith describes ‘&’ as “a collection of songs about looking out at the world, disappearing into other lives rather than into ourselves, and about the humanity that can crackle and shimmer as a consequence.”
The full tracklist for ‘&’ is as follows:
1. Intros & Narrators
2. Eve & Paradise Lost
3. Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky
4. Blue Sky & The Painter
5. Leonard & Marianne
6. Marie & Polonium
7. Red Wine & Wilde
8. Seasons & Narcissus
9. Drawbridge & The Baroness
10. The Soprano & Her Midnight Wonderings
11. Essie & Paul
12. Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze
13. Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her
14. Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024
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