ALBUM REVIEW: & by Bastille

   So, Bastille's new album is kind of an interesting situation. Lead singer Dan Smith went on a sort of journey where he got really interested in stories of people from the past and decided to write an album of songs about them. And they're each about a pair of people, or a pair of a person and something about their life, which is why it's  called "& (Ampersand)" and every track title has an & in it. From what I understand, this is entirely a solo album - just Dan using his band's name. I remember a sort of trailer video he did where he decided to release it under the Bastille name because he felt like it fits. 

  Now, say what you will about Dan using the Bastille name even though this is a solo record - but I think it's fine. From what I've read, Bastille seems to always have kind of been built as Dan's show, with musicians helping him as a band. Plus, if the other three guys were upset that he's using the name, I feel like they would've said something by now, and I don't think they have.

1. Intros & Narrators: 8/10

   This is the only song on the album that doesn't tell someone's story, and instead just serves as the intro to the album. The chorus sees Dan telling you to take a walk with him through these lives, describing himself as an unreliable narrator. It's a pretty neat song and sets up the album quite well.

2. Eve & Paradise Lost: 7/10

    This one is about Adam & Eve and Satan tempting them in the Garden of Eden, with obviously a little focus on Eve. It blends with the story of Paradise Lost by John Milton, so a little bit of a fictional telling. The lyric of "I will always take the fall for us/but we both ate the fruit, my love" is definitely interesting. 

3. Emily & Her Penthouse in the Sky: 8/10

   This one is about Emily Dickinson, the poet who didn't become famous for her work until after she died and her poetry was discovered. This song is pretty great because I feel it does a great job communicating how she must have felt during her life, and I went into this already having more of an appreciation for Emily Dickinson having watched that Dickinson show.

4. Blue Sky & The Painter: 10/10

   This one is also an outlier on the album because it isn't inspired by any real-life story, and is just the product of good old-fashioned Bastille originality. It was initially made as a benefit to raise awareness for climate change, and a more guitar-y version was made to be on this album. And guys, I absolutely love this song. This is my favorite on the album and now one of my favorite Bastille songs as a whole. It seems to be about an optimistic look for the betterment of the world, which is cool in itself, but it also seems like a great song to play as sort of a victory anthem, like when you've finally achieved something you've been working towards. I wish this song existed when I got promoted into management at work. The chorus saying "is that a blue sky?/It's about d*mn time" feels so optimistic and hopeful, and that and the general song is so uplifting that I genuinely get emotional when I listen to this track.

5. Leonard & Marianne: 8/10

   This one is about the relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen. I only knew who Leonard Cohen was going into this, but Marianne was his lover and an inspiration for a lot of his music. This is a rather pretty song, and I like the themes of love and yearning for things that you used to have.

6. Marie & Polonium: 9/10

   This song is pretty great. It's about Madam Curie and her discoveries, which ended up being the death of her. I LOVE the repeated line in the chorus of "love deeper even if it kills you" which later changes to "even *though* it kills you". Pretty cool attitude to have, and a pretty great song.

7. Red Wine & Wilde: 7/10

   I'm not sure what the "red wine" connection is here, but this song is about Oscar Wilde and his love affair with another man, and their relationship being kind of toxic. Maybe they liked to drink red wine together? The first lyric is "fill me up with red wine and I'm yours". It's a decent song, but the album offers better.

8. Seasons & Narcissus: 9/10

    This song is pretty smart - it's about the classic myth of Narcissus and him falling in love with his own reflection. It's a pretty beautiful song, but it takes on a whole new meaning and commentary when you realize that the person the subject is singing about is himself. Pretty neat.

9. Drawbridge & The Baroness: 8/10

   This one isn't so much based on a real-life story as it is just a cool idea that Dan had, inspired by the philosophical dilemma known as the drawbridge exercise. Apparently he layered up hundreds of tracks of his voice harmonizing with itself. A good song, and it just shows how creative Dan Smith is.

10. The Soprano & Midnight Wonderings: 6/10

     This one is sung by Dan's singer friend BIM and is about a story from her own personal life, that he wrote with her on tour and finished at his house. I don't like the lack of Dan singing and the fact that this isn't inspired by history or creative fiction writing, so it's probably my least favorite track on the album, but for what it's worth, it's a decent song and at least this BIM is a great singer.

11. Essie & Paul: 8/10

     This one is about Paul and Eslanda Robeson, who were apparently a pair of husband-and-wife civil rights activists. I didn't know why they were, but they seem like interesting people, so I'm glad this song brought them to my attention. It's a good song with a chorus about doing what they need to do to find peace and happiness.

12. Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze: 6/10

     All I really know about this story is from Genius.com, and it seems to be about lesbian lovers in France messing with a dead nun's corpse, and then starting a fire to escape?? Pretty crazy stuff to try to write a beautiful love song about, Dan. But he somehow wrote a pretty nice song about whatever this situation was. And I kinda like when he starts singing in French.

13. Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her: 9/10

     This one is about a Chinese pirate and the questions that Dan would ask her if he met her. The instrumentals are awesome here - they feel cinematic. It's also an interesting story to bring to light. So I approve of this one.

14. Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024: 7/10

      Genius.com doesn't (at least of this writing) have any information on what this song is about, so I'm gonna assume it's more Dan Smith creative writing. It's not particularly remarkable, but it's a pretty good song, and it definitely has the air that a closing track on an album should have.

OVERALL SCORE: 110/140 (79%)