So long, Bombay Bicycle Club

On So Long, See You Tomorrow, the fourth album from Bombay Bicycle Club, the melodies are hidden and the listener is expected to work. “It really is a record that needs to grow on people,” admits singer-guitarist Jack Steadman. The prototype of the new Bombay Bicycle Club sound, the single “Carry Me”, was not only the first track to be recorded, but its primitive, aggressive-sounding drums marked a new direction for the London indie foursome – who, for a change, recorded in the Dutch countryside and in, yes indeed, Bombay.

The new record may well come as a shock for people who have been fans since your early days. I presume you are aware of that.
Ed Nash (bassist): Instead of boring our fans, we prefer to surprise them. In the past, too, we experimented with different styles, but we have always tried to ensure that there was a good song underneath the surface – although this time you have to dig a bit deeper.
Jack Steadman: At first, lots of fans could make nothing of that single, but after playing it five times, they loved it. So you see: even pop music doesn’t always have to be ready-to-wear. You get the most satisfaction when you’ve had to make an effort yourself. For me, it took a while before I got My Bloody Valentine, who are surely the masters of hiding layers of meaning, but that makes the quest all the more exciting.

Parts of the record were recorded abroad.
Steadman: A hideaway in Holland, far from all the distractions of London, gave us room to breathe and fresh ideas. I also played a concert with Ed in the Indian metropolis of Pune and after that we spent three weeks in Bombay, where we rented a studio from a local band.

Was it your first time over there?
Steadman: Yep, but we had some concerns. There are quite a few Indian influences on the record, and we wanted to avoid the public seeing it as a gimmick: “Ha, the guys from Bombay Bicycle Club are going to record in Bombay.” It’s just a wonderfully energetic place. The speed of the city infected our creativity too.
Nash: You can’t help being impressed by the inventiveness with which the average Indian manages with the few means available. Here we have much more, but we hardly know what to do with the overabundance.
Steadman: Musically, I was particularly entranced by both the fantastic rhythms and the production techniques. They combine lots of instruments and often you can’t even tell which ones. That way of working reminded us a bit of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and it certainly had an influence on us. We are proudest of all of “Feel”, which combines an Eastern intro with a Caribbean rhythm and Afro-beat guitars.

Is there a theme running through the album?
Steadman: Things that last and last, forever. The last refrain on the album goes: keep going round and round… We extended that idea of being in movement to the record’s title and the artwork.
Nash: And the album ends with the same melody it begins with. In the end, everything is one big loop, like in life.

Or like in Bombay Bicycle Club: So Long, See You Tomorrow is your fourth album, even though you are still only 25. The group is clearly a long-term project.
Steadman: Sure thing. We are ordinary, simple guys. We don’t go near all those society parties. I still have the same girlfriend as when we started the band. And if we were a bunch of friends then, now we see each other as almost family.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB 9/2, 19.30, SOLD OUT!, Botanique, Koningsstraat 236 rue Royale, 
Sint-Joost-ten-Node/Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 02-218.37.32, www.botanique.be