Dan from Bastille discusses the band's new "&" album and his must-see gigs for 2025

25 October 2024, 18:12 | Updated: 25 October 2024, 18:24

Dan Smith from Bastille's must-see gigs for 2025

By Jenny Mensah

Frontman Dan Smith spoke to Radio X's Dan O'Connell about the band's latest project and revealed who he can't wait to see live.

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Dan Smith thinks its a great time for guitar music and can't wait to see the likes of Oasis and Sam Fender in 2025.

The Bastille frontman spoke to Radio X's Dan O'Connell on The Evening Show this week, where they discussed everything from the band's most recent project "&" (Ampersand) to the gigs he's most forward to seeing next year.

Reminded that Bastille themselves will "turn 15" and asked if they'll "join the party" of epic live shows in 2025, he replied: "I'm sure we'll figure something out. I'm not very good at thinking that far ahead, but next year is incredibly soon now."

"I'm so excited, as a fan," added. "There's so many great shows next year that will be a lot of fun to go to."

Quizzed if he was an Oasis fan, the Pompeii singer said: "Yeah, I think the Oasis shows will be great."

Asked about the latest online activity from The Maccabees, he gushed: "Yeah, I'm a massive Maccabees fan and obviously was devastated when they broke up. Like everyone else I saw the post go up and thought, 'That's not a nothing. You're not teasing us for nothing.' So yeah, I hope there's some shows next year and I would absolutely love to go see them."

He went on: "And Sam Fender, I'm excited for those shows as well. Yeah it's great. It feels like [...] a really good time for guitar music and just bands old and new..."

Bastille&squot;s Dan Smith talks the band&squot;s new "&" album — Bastille's Dan Smith talks the band's new "&" album. Picture: Radio X/Press

Bastille have just released their "&" (Ampersand) album, one of their most ambitious works to-date, which is based on factual figures in history and even includes a companion podcast.

The record, which Dan reveals is about "pairs of people" includes the single Blue Sky & The Painter about Norwegian artist Edvard Munch the who's best known for his famous painting Scream.

Watch the official video for the single below:

Bastille - Blue Sky & The Painter

Asked about the record as a whole, Dan revealed: "It's 14 story songs. I recorded it with some friends in February and March. We went away and it took about three weeks to record it and it's mostly just live... yeah. It's a series of short stories about all these different people that I think are fascinating, but also just a bunch of really great songs."

"I guest it leans a bit more inward," he added. "It's quite intimate, but it's quite raw. You know, you can hear the sound of the rain on the roof of the house we recorded in. You can hear the sort of creaking of piano stools and fingers on guitars.

"It's quite acoustic, but there are moments where it explodes. There's Blue Sky & The Painter, there's another one called Drawbridge & the Baroness that is absolutely bonkers and I love it so much [...] but there's also tiny intimate moments as well.

He went on: "And I guess the thing with the title is I'm aware they are all very long and very pretentious, but I've had such a great time learning about these people and making the album..."

Listen to Bastille's "&" (Ampersand) in full below: