Bombay Bicycle Club — Everything Else Has Gone Wrong — Album Review
Indie | Rock | Folk
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
It was roughly a year ago that the indie band Bombay Bicycle Club had announced their return to making music after an “indefinite” hiatus which lasted a few years. And with this return to making music, Bombay Bicycle Club began work on their newest album, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong.
Fast forward to the very beginning of 2020, and Bombay Bicycle Club managed to release the single “I Can Hardly Speak”, the fourth of five teaser tracks for the full album, and the very first song of 2020 that I found myself enjoying. That being said, that was essentially how I managed to invest myself into keeping an ear out for any more material that Bombay Bicycle Club might offer, not too long before the release of their fifth studio album.
“I Can Hardly Speak” was admittedly the only teaser track I fully listened to prior to the full album. However, there were a handful of tracks which I recognised from a few radio listens. Nevertheless, I went into Everything Else Has Gone Wrong relatively afresh.
I tend to go through some trouble when reviewing indie albums, especially when the indie formula is so conventional (a good case of this would be Catfish and the Bottlemen’s 2019 album The Balance). While these types of albums aren’t usually bad, many suffer from being uninteresting. In the case of Everything Else Has Gone Wrong however, the folk elements do save the album from suffering the same fate.
Bombay Bicycle Club manage to fuse indie and folk together rather well. I also heard people regard this albums style as “world music”, but I don’t feel that as strongly as other albums that I’ve heard. I also couldn’t help but feel like this album felt to me like something Two Door Cinema Club would do if they went down a more folk-inspired route.
Contradictory to the albums title, I feel that this albums mood is overall quite uplifting, and a good mood to be blessed with at this time of year. But after doing a bit of research, I discovered that this album was made for those who “ever turned to music in a time of crisis” which actually makes perfect sense when thinking about the uplifting mood and the title. That being said, I really appreciate the conception and purpose of the album, and it may just be the best thing about Everything Else Has Gone Wrong.
Although, I do still feel that the album is a bit of a mixed bag musically. I’d say that the best thing to pick out from the albums music would be the guitar riffs, some of which are instantly memorable. However, I found many of the lyrics to be a Coldplay level of mundane.
Overall, I found Everything Else Has Gone Wrong to be quite the solid indie project. much of it is quite catchy indeed, and the deep thought behind it is clearly visible.
Favourite Tracks: Get Up | Everything Else Has Gone Wrong | I Can Hardly Speak
Least Favourite Track: I Worry Bout You
Mmm…Records
