Give Me The Future
| Bastille
Give Me The Future
Give Me the Future is the fourth studio album by British indie pop band Bastille, released on 4 February 2022 through EMI Records. It was executive produced by Ryan Tedder. The album was preceded by the singles "Distorted Light Beam", "Give Me the Future", and "Thelma + Louise", and subsequently announced alongside the release of the fourth single "No Bad Days". A fifth single titled "Shut Off the Lights" launched nearly three weeks prior to album release. A deluxe version of the album was released on 7 February 2022, and includes the single "Survivin'" from their 2020 Goosebumps EP. Bastille will tour the UK and Europe from April 2022 in support of the album. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
Show All-
Redbrick Music
Give Me The Future applies Bastille’s engaging sound to interesting concepts and topics in a way that make the record cohesive but not seem repetitive. The album takes you through complex emotions from the unrestrained fun of ‘Shut Off The Lights,’ the grief of ‘No Bad Days’ and the despondence of ‘Distorted Light Beam’ and ‘Stay Awake?’ It sees the band journey through the ups and downs of life today and how the past, present and future interact making the album relevant and relatable. Although the band do not have all the answers, their honesty and creativity make Give Me The Future a captivating record.
-
Pitchfork
The pop-rock superstars attempt a concept album about virtual reality that is almost perverse in its inability or unwillingness to develop its premise beyond the most basic and obvious elements.
-
Slug Magazine
Lyrically the album is true to Bastille’s precedent of hard-hitting, emotionally driven and blunt words—‘“Waking life, it lets us down” from “Back to the Future” and “Nothing is certain and the song isn’t done” from the album’s title track stand as prominent examples. But Give Me the Future is soothing and catchy too. “Thelma + Louise,” my favorite track on the album, is escapism personified. It’s daring and it pays off. Songs like “No Bad Days” and “Plug In…” ground the album for Bastille fans that are looking for something more traditional, whereas “Stay Awake?,” the most experimental cut here, won’t be a fan favorite. Even Riz Ahmed’s spoken-word poetry feature on “Promises” might not be what fans expect from Bastille.
-
NME
a soundtrack to life after lockdown.
-
mxdwn Music
While this album certainly has its high points and low points, kudos to Bastille for taking a risk and getting outside of their musical comfort zone. There is room for improvement, no doubt, but there are certainly some amazing songs on this futuristic concept album.
-
AllMusic
s Give Me the Future feels a bit heavy-handed. Fortunately, the album's brisk pace saves it from feeling overblown. This is music for and of its moment, with a mix of ambition and pop concision that's unmistakably Bastille.
-
Clash Magazine
Most of all, it’s just nice not to be depressed about the future and have some fun with it instead. ‘Give Me The Future’ offers listeners a healthy amount of escapism to push through and adopt a degree of optimism. Because in the end, it’s happening, there’s not much to be done, so just get on with it and try your best to enjoy the ride. As Riz Ahmed states halfway, “The world’s burning but fuck it”.
-
The Arts Desk
Dan Smith's pop success story delivers a sometimes persuasive spec-fic concept album.
-
Evening Standard
Here, both the darkest and lightest moments, and the best songs, come when Smith steps away from his main theme. No Bad Days is about an aunt who had a voluntary assisted death in Australia, and achieves a powerful impact with minimal instrumentation. In contrast, Shut Off the Lights is a fantastic groove, slinking along on the lightest of guitar lines. It’s simply about the joy of dancing with a loved one, presumably in real life. “No talk of the future now,” Smith sings. When that weight is lifted, the band is at its best.
-
3 Songs & Out
Bastille are clearly consummate musicians, what I hadn’t realised was just how good they can be, if this doesn’t cement their status as real contenders I don’t know what will! This is a brilliant album, well worth your time and focus.
-
The Upcoming
Ultimately, listeners’ enjoyment of Give Me the Future hinges on their ability to tolerate the slightly clumsy handling of the conceptual elements. There are plenty of delectable melodies and exciting rhythms here – some of the best in the Bastille back catalogue, arguably. For those able to tune out some of the more try-hard moments, this is a real winner.
-
The Clarion Call
Bastille did an absolutely fantastic job on this album. They continue to amaze me with every new release and just how many important messages one can hide behind a catchy beat. I am excited to see what they do next.
-
Music Matters Media
Give Me the Future is at the very least a considerable improvement over Bastille’s last effort, the mundane and generic Dark Days. It’s impossible to say what the future holds for this band, but with this album, they’re definitely hitting all the right buttons in the present.
-
Commedia
The album truly shines on tracks like “Back To The Future” where it pulls away from the futuristic sound. While this clash holds the album back from being great, it does not mean this is a bad album. There are no outright bad tracks on “Give Me The Future,” but they're also no true standout songs. The story woven through the album along with the songwriting skill of the band lifts this to be an above average album that likely won’t have singles playing alone on repeat. “Give Me The Future” is a concept album telling an incredible narrative through a series of standard songs.
-
The Perfect Tempo
Ultimately ‘Give Me The Future’, is an incredibly strong and enjoyable album, it's full of life. Featuring some of the groups finest sonic moments in nearly a decade, it sounds joyous with constantly thunderous percussion and uplifting electronics. Tracks such as 'Give Me The Future' with its anthemic chorus and 'Club 57' with its tropical dance groove are crying out for a huge arena stage. 'Thelma + Louise' meanwhile is set to be on repeat for many months to come. They've taken bold decisions and grown their sound in exciting new directions. Smith asks intriguing questions with his lyrics and paints a compelling dilemma when it comes to the effect the virtual world we've created is having on our personal and romantic relationships.
-
Stage Right Secrets
Simply, it is a damn good album.
-
DIY Magazine
Bastille’s choral, digestible power pop DNA is present, but grittier than usual.
-
musicOMH
There’s everything from glitchy pop, dance tracks and emo rock on this album, but a key message, Smith’s unique vocals, and a tendency towards electronic earworms, make it a sonically cohesive work that has just the perfect touch of modern life to make us feel something, but with enough escapism that we don’t burn out from it. Bastille has always been good at wielding humanity in their work, but this record shows them upgrade to masterful: “Who knows what the future holds? Doesn’t matter if I got you.”
-
Vinyl Chapters
For a soundtrack to a post-pandemic, tech-driven apocalypse, it surprisingly isn’t lacking in optimism. From the foot-tapping and hand-clapping of Back To The Future, to the synth pulses and wobbling guitar in Stay Awake?, to the whistling and thumping of drums in Club 57, there’s a sense that the future isn’t all bad. It gets better still if you have loved ones to share it with; the album’s final song, Future Holds, is almost worshipful: “Who knows what the future holds? / Don’t matter if I got you”, Smith sings alongside gospel-soul singer BIM, backed by the swell of a choir. It looks like it’s time to move out of the Bad Blood, the Wild World and the Doom Days, and embrace the Futurescape.
-
Gigwise
This boundary-less body of work is sure to impress.
-
Stereoboard
‘Give Me The Future’ is undeniable in many ways, not least its creativity, positivity and endeavour. Let’s just hope Gianni Infantino and his cronies don’t come along and ruin the band like they did with everything else.
Rate This Album and Leave Your Comments