Bombay Bicycle Club on their most collaborative album to date: “It was really fun to not be limited by your own voice or your own style”
Bombay Bicycle Club have opened up about their upcoming album ‘My Big Day‘ and how it is their most collaborative LP to date.
After being asked what made them want to expand their creative process during the latest episode of NME‘s In Conversation series, frontman Jack Steadman said: “I think that might be another result of me doing my solo stuff where I did collaborate on almost every song. It was really fun to not be limited by your own voice or your own style and just have complete freedom.”
He continued: “It’s certainly very eclectic…from Holly Humberstone to Damon Albarn, it’s a nice mix of people and obviously the surprise is gonna blow a lot of people’s minds.”
‘My Big Day’ features the likes of Humberstone, Albarn, Jay Som and Nilüfer Yanya. Both Steadman and the band’s guitarist, Jamie MacColl, shared what it was like to get someone as big and busy as Albarn for a feature.
“I actually went and played him the album, ‘cause I value his opinion a lot. It was just one song, where instead of giving me a few notes or feedback, he just got his engineer to bring him a microphone and just started singing this melody. It was kind of a curse as well as a blessing. It’s so good but am I ever going to persuade him to actually finish it and write the lyrics?,” shared Steadman.
MacColl added: “I think he finished it in a long journey between Coachella and somewhere else. Also, he doesn’t own a mobile phone, so it’s not like you can just WhatsApp him and be like, ‘how are the lyrics going?’”
The LP also features another special guest that has been kept under wraps. “It’s gonna shock a lot of people, so why not make it into something,” said Steadman, with MacCall adding: “I think we wanted to reveal it visually for the first time as well, rather than on a track listing.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the band discussed how their self-produced their upcoming LP, attributing things like trying not to limit themselves and attempting to “not play it safe” anymore as some of the reasons for their decision.
“I think we were definitely consciously trying to be a bit braver than we were on the previous record and saying that nothing was off limits,” explained MacColl. “Particularly when you’ve been doing this for 18 years, there’s no point trying to play it safe at this point. There’s nothing to be gained from it personally or even commercially.”
Steadman added: “What we’ve realised is we’re never gonna meet someone that’s harder on us than we are. We whittle away at songs and really cut the fat off them. [It’s about] doing that enough times until the ten songs you’re left with are incredible.”
‘My Big Day’ is set for release on October 20 via AWAL. Pre-order the album here.
In other news, the band recently released their latest single ‘Turn The World On’ and are set to kick off their remaining UK tour dates next month. This will start with a slot at the Academy 2 in Leicester on October 17 and run until October 26 with a slot at Fat Sam’s in Dundee – visit here for remaining tickets.
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Anagricel Duran
NME
