Grice, Alisdair (3 February 2022). "Album Review: Bastille – Give Me the Future". Gigwise . Retrieved 3 February 2022. Dan Smith performing with Bastille at the 2016 V festival. Photograph: Stuart C Wilson/Getty Images He added: “So, I wanted to nod to those people and the idea that before anything big happens, most of them will have had these little revolutions in their minds, a change of perspective that leads to something bigger.”

I was thinking about Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver and all the acoustic artists who manage to write music that is both orchestral and floaty, but also a grounded in some grit,” he says. “It was very much at odds with all of the synthesizers, drum machines, and electronic instruments and the production that we were using for Give Me The Future, but I feel super proud of it.” Smith has a complicated relationship with his appearance, partly, he thinks, from being overweight as a teenager. “I was big through the end of childhood and through quite a lot of university,” he says. “I’m really aware of not wanting to imply that anyone shouldn’t want to be big. But I remember being just really self-conscious and wanting to look different.” Following on from playing festivals such as Boardmasters, Sziget, and Reading & Leeds this weekend, they’ll take the “Give Me The Future” tour to South America, stopping in Argentina and Brazil, before continuing an enthralling trek across Europe. I wrote this with one of my best mates, Ralph Pelleymounter, who’s in a band called To Kill a King. He was my roommate at university. We sat down and wrote it one afternoon and wanted to make something that nodded to Phil Collins and epic, strings-based, midtempo with big drums. It’s about the allure of living in a virtual reality and the endless possibilities, but also the totally addictive nature of it.” Smith isn’t keen on interviews or photoshoots (“Just to warn you, I have no control over my face,” he says, deadpan, approaching the photographer). He seems at ease today, although he tells me his university friends still find it hilarious that someone as introverted as him is the lead singer of a mainstream band.

Murray, Robin (19 October 2021). "Bastille Announce New Album 'Give Me the Future' ". Clash . Retrieved 17 November 2021. Yet, despite this objective success, sitting in the control room of Bastille’s studio with his ankle resting on his knee, Smith says he has a “very low opinion” of himself. “I can’t really explain it,” he says. “I think there’s dissonance in my head between what we’ve achieved and how I’m perceived, and the reality in my head.” Drop the needle at any point in the album, and hear Smith’s proclamations that he is in the future, and he can do anything, and be anyone, and the simulation is like a dream, a dream that is good but perhaps so good that it’s also bad. The songs are virtually interchangeable.

Atkinson, Jessie (19 October 2021). "Bastille's new album is confirmed: it's called Give Me the Future". Gigwise . Retrieved 17 November 2021. Since the release of the record, Bastille have created an immersive experience at their sold-out gigs, bringing the themes of the album to life in arenas across the UK and on a tour of North America. At this year’s Glastonbury Festival, such was the demand to witness their secret set the festival organizers had to cordon off the surrounding area at the 1,000-capacity William’s Green tent as festivalgoers tried to descend in the masses to catch a glimpse of their secret performance. Cush, Andy (14 February 2022). "Bastille: Give Me the Future Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved 15 February 2022. Smith says: “It’s really satisfying to have finally directed, and I’m really proud of the little film we made. I grew up with film as my main obsession, so this was a bit of a dream. I learned a sh_tload and it was good to be challenged in a new way.” But this intense, sudden rise to fame “freaked out” the fame-averse Smith, who is happy with the fact that many people have heard Bastille’s music, but have no idea what he looks like. “I was hugely self-deprecating as a defence mechanism,” he says. “I was always such a huge pessimist. We all worked so hard on the band at the beginning – and continue to – because we loved it. But I’ve always been expecting it to fall apart at any moment. I think that’s why I never think too far in the future.”He doesn’t want people to think this was a magical or aspirational transformation. “It didn’t suddenly instil me with loads of confidence,” he says. “For a long time, I still identified as a bigger guy, and still do to this day.” Bastille announce new album 'Give Me the Future' ". DIY. 19 October 2021 . Retrieved 17 November 2021.

Smith grew up in south London with his lawyer parents and sister. He had a happy childhood, he says, but he was a self-conscious child and never dreamed of a musical career. “Just the idea of standing up in front of people and doing anything, let alone playing music, was so far from anything I could imagine wanting to do.” Bastille at the 2015 Grammy awards … (left to right) Will Farquarson, Dan Smith, Chris Wood and Kyle Simmons. Photograph: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Naras Give Me The Future” stands out as classic Bastille through and through. Cavernous production echoes, as synths juxtapose an airy beat. The vocals paint a sci-fi-inspired picture, recalling imagery from Blade Runner and beyond. It all builds towards a spacey and soaring hook, welcoming whatever looms on the horizon along for the ride. As always, Bastille represents the future. Earlier this week, the Jeep brand revealed a portion of the song in a shorter campaign video, which had Bastille fans going wild, guessing the song title and release date. Shutler, Ali (3 February 2022). "Bastille – Give Me the Future Album Review". DIY . Retrieved 3 February 2022.The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 14 February 2022". The ARIA Report. No.1667. Australian Recording Industry Association. 14 February 2022. p.6. I remember playing at Alexandra Palace [in north London] – which should have been such an amazing moment – and two songs in I just lost it and went completely pitch deaf and the whole gig for me was then this mad, terrifying rollercoaster of just trying to get through it. I hear myself saying this and it’s just a real shame.”

O'Donnell, Henry (15 July 2021). "Bastille have launched their new single, 'Give Me the Future' ". Dork . Retrieved 17 November 2021. You’ll also hear the voice of award-winning actor, musician, writer, creator, producer, director and activist Riz Ahmed on a spell-binding and evocative spoken word piece called Promises. Riz’s piece was a response the album and brings its overarching themes into sharp focus. Before his third year at university, he went travelling in Thailand and caught a virus. He lost his appetite and the weight fell off. When he returned home he started eating more healthily and exercised more. That summer, his weight dropped six stone. “When I lost loads of weight and suddenly just looked like a different person, it’s quite a … I think for anyone that’s gone through quite a big, radical physical transformation it can be a fair thing to get your head around.” For a long time I identified as a bigger guy and still do to this day Dan SmithTheir fourth album, the masterful Give Me The Future, was hailed by many critics as their best release to date, with The Fader describing it as “a grand collection of sci-fi inspired songs attempting to make sense of the world’s fast-moving venture into dystopia.” Give Me the Future is the fourth studio album by British indie pop band Bastille, released on 4 February 2022 through EMI Records. It was executive produced by Ryan Tedder. [16] The album was preceded by the singles "Distorted Light Beam", "Give Me the Future", and "Thelma + Louise", [17] and subsequently announced alongside the release of the fourth single "No Bad Days". [18] A fifth single titled "Shut Off the Lights" [19] launched nearly three weeks prior to album release. I think a lot of people suffer from different versions of body dysmorphia,” he says. “We all have the version of ourselves that we see in our own heads and often that’s so different from the version of who we are through other people’s eyes.”