So Long, See You Tomorrow (album)

So Long, See You Tomorrow
Studio album by Bombay Bicycle Club
Released 3 February 2014
Recorded 2011–2013
Genre Indie rock, indietronica, alternative dance[1]
Length 44:55
Label Island (UK), Vagrant (US)
Producer Jack Steadman
Bombay Bicycle Club chronology

A Different Kind of Fix
(2011)		 So Long, See You Tomorrow
(2014)
Singles from So Long, See You Tomorrow
  1. "Carry Me"
    Released: 5 November 2013
  2. "Luna"
    Released: 6 January 2014
  3. "Feel"
    Released: 19 May 2014
  4. "Come To"
    Released: 18 August 2014
  5. "Home by Now"
    Released: 1 December 2014

So Long, See You Tomorrow is the fourth album by the London indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club, released on 3 February 2014. The album is named after the novel of the same name by William Maxwell.[2] The album was promoted by the singles "Carry Me", "Luna", "Feel", "Come To" and "Home by Now"

Musical style and production

Similar to the electronica approach of their 2011 album A Different Kind of Fix, the album makes use of sampling and takes influences from world music, marking a shift from their previous albums.[3] Written during frontman Jack Steadman's travels through India, Japan and Turkey, it uses a wider range of instrumentation and a lesser use of guitars, which featured heavily on their debut album.[4] The album was recorded in the band's own studio, with the help of mixing engineer Mark Rankin (whose credits include ...Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age and AlunaGeorge's debut album Body Music, among others). It was produced by Steadman, and marks the band's first release produced by a band member.[5] It features Lucy Rose and Rae Morris on guest vocals.[6][7]

Promotion

The lead single to promote the album, "Carry Me", was released on 5 November 2013 and accompanied by an interactive music video.[8] It has charted at number 81 on the UK Singles Chart.[9]

The second single, "Luna", followed on 6 January 2014 with a music video directed by Anna Ginsburg and featuring the synchronised swimming troupe Aquabatix.[10][11][12] The song charted at number 78 on the UK Singles Chart, and at number 91 on the Official Streaming Chart.[13]

"Feel", a song using a sample from the 1954 Bollywood film Nagin, was released as the third single on 19 May 2014.[14] A music video, directed by Sumit Dutt, premiered on 24 March 2014.[15] The song peaked at number 75 on the UK Singles Chart.[16]

"Come To" was released as the fourth single on 18 August 2014. It was accompanied by a music video featuring footage from Bombay Bicycle Club's live performance of the song.[17]

The fifth single from the album, "Home by Now", will be released on 1 December 2014. A music video for the song, featuring a school recreation of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, was released on 27 October 2014.[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 69/100[19]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
Clash 9/10[7]
The Line of Best Fit (8/10)[20]
musicOMH (8/10)[3]
NME 7/10[4]
Pitchfork (7.7/10)[5]

Reception to So Long, See You Tomorrow has generally been favourable. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 24 reviews.[19]

In a positive review for Clash magazine, Gareth James praised the wealth of guitar riffs, and noted that "BBC's ambition was there for all to hear on their last record, but it is with So Long, See You Tomorrow that they have fully realised it. What could so nearly have been overbearing or desperate to be loved is, in actual fact, sincerely captivating and euphorically playful."[7] Matt Collar of AllMusic commented that "while there are definitely Bollywood-esque qualities here, ... the results are never overt or heavy-handed. These are organic, living productions that touch upon rave culture and world music while remaining rooted in melodic songcraft."[1]

The album was shortlisted for the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize.[21]

Commercial performance

On the week of its release, So Long, See You Tomorrow debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Bombay Bicycle Club's first release to do so.[22] The album has also charted in Australia, several European countries, and on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jack Steadman, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Overdone" (Steadman, Rahul Dev Burman, Anand Bakshi) 3:39
2. "It's Alright Now"   4:10
3. "Carry Me"   4:25
4. "Home by Now"   4:35
5. "Whenever, Wherever"   5:31
6. "Luna"   3:11
7. "Eyes Off You"   3:57
8. "Feel" (Steadman, Hemant Kumar, Rajinder Krishan, Medoune Diallo) 5:00
9. "Come To"   4:25
10. "So Long, See You Tomorrow"   6:02

Personnel

Bombay Bicycle Club
  • Jack Steadman – vocals, guitar, sampler, piano, bass
  • Jamie MacColl – guitar, bass
  • Ed Nash – bass
  • Suren de Saram – drums
Technical personnel[23]
  • Jack Steadman – production
  • Ben H. Allen – production (track 6)
  • Bombay Bicycle Club – arrangement
  • Mark Rankin – engineering, mixing
  • Dougal Lott – engineering and mixing assistant
  • Josh Green – engineering and mixing assistant
  • Joseph Rogers – additional engineering (track 2)
  • Mike Marsh – mastering (except track 9)
  • Simon Davey – mastering (track 9)
Additional musicians[23]
  • Rae Morris – additional vocals (tracks 1, 6 and 10)
  • Lucy Rose – additional vocals (tracks 2–4 and 7–9)
  • Dorcas Kiernan – additional vocals (track 9)
  • Hazel Yule – additional vocals (track 9)
  • The Brass Notes – horns (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10)
    • Jack Bennington – trumpet, flugelhorn
    • Dan Berry – tenor/alto saxophone
    • Alex Coppard – tenor/alto saxophone
  • Sarah Morpurgo – flute (track 1)
  • Kate St John – cor anglais (track 1)
  • Louis Bhose – piano (track 5)
Additional personnel[23]
  • Jason Marcus – management
  • La Boca – design

Samples

Chart positions

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 36
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 95
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 130
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[27] 74
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 78
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 1
US Billboard 200[32] 101
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[33] 14
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[34] 14
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[35] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] 27

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Collar, Matt (4 February 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ Goodwyn, Tom (21 January 2014). "'We definitely took our time with this album' – hmv.com talks to Bombay Bicycle Club". hmv.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Babar, Andy (31 January 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow". musicOMH. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nicolson, Barry (29 January 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow". NME. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cohen, Ian (4 February 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club: So Long, See You Tomorrow". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Glassford, Luke (2 February 2014). "Album review: Bombay Bicycle Club – 'So Long, See You Tomorrow'". All Noise. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 James, Gareth (21 January 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow". Clash. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Earp, Catherine (4 November 2013). "Bombay Bicycle Club unveil new single 'Carry Me' music video - watch". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Official Singles Chart UK Top 100 - 16th November 2013". Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (6 January 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club: "Luna"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Corner, Lewis (7 January 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club premiere new single 'Luna' music video - watch". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna (2014)". IMVDb. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Lane, Daniel (3 February 2014). "Clean Bandit topple Pitbull from top of Official Streaming Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club unveil video for new single 'Feel' - watch". NME. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club - Feel (2014)". IMVDb. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Davidson, Amy (23 June 2014). "Bombay Bicycle Club announce 'Come To' as new single - watch video". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club - Home By Now: video premiere". The Guardian. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "So Long, See You Tomorrow Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  20. ↑ Day, Laurence (27 January 2014). "Album Review: Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Mercury Prize 2014: who are the nominees?". The Daily Telegraph. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club celebrate first Official UK Albums Chart Number One". NME. 9 February 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Credits adapted from CD liner notes.
  24. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  25. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  26. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  27. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  29. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow". Irishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  30. ↑ "15-02-2014 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  31. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  32. ↑ The Billboard 200 : Feb 22, 2014. Billboard biz. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  33. ↑ Alternative Albums : Feb 22, 2014. Billboard biz. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  34. ↑ Independent Albums : Feb 22, 2014. Billboard biz. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  35. ↑ "Bombay Bicycle Club Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums for Bombay Bicycle Club. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  36. ↑ Top Rock Albums : Feb 22, 2014. Billboard biz. Retrieved 15 February 2014.