On their fourth studio album Give Me The Future, Bastille created an ambitious, immersive journey through elaborate technologies and virtual connection. Now, the Grammy Award-nominated band is cracking open their imaginative world with Give Me The Future + Dreams Of The Past, the second installment of a three-part record that combines the initial album and eight additional songs that further develop the themes they’ve played on throughout the album cycle. The album is set for release on August 26 via EMI Records.
“In releasing this version of the record, we wanted to give the complete picture of what we intended with this album and also explore the idea that you can choose your own adventure,” frontman Dan Smith shared in a statement. “You can dive into the ideas of the future and an electronic world, or you can fall back into the past – away from technology and into ideas of memory and nostalgia – both thematically and musically. Or you can choose full-on dance floor heartbreak escape.”
The first offering from Dreams Of The Past, a Quincy Jones-inspired lead single titled “Revolution,” is as dance floor-ready as can be. The track pulls additional inspiration from The Weeknd’s smash hit “Can’t Feel My Face” as Smith finds love in dystopia, singing: “Lost in the universe / We got the modern curse, but we try / I don’t want to go around the sun / With anyone but you, babe.”
“The chorus is about the intimacy of human connection in the context of some science fiction, space-centred imagery. But it’s also about the idea of those amazingly thoughtful people who spend their lives trying to change the world in a positive way,” Dan explained. “I’m totally over-awed by people like that – if you’re one of them, like an inventor, activist or scientist, you have to have the ability to imagine a version of the future that’s better than what currently exists, and then have that energy to actually work to make it happen. Alongside all the other things life throws at you.”
He added: “So, I wanted to nod to those people and the idea that before anything big happens, most of them will have had these little revolutions in their minds, a change of perspective that leads to something bigger.”
In addition to Give Me The Future + Dreams Of The Past, Bastille’s forthcoming release will feature an additional installment of their ongoing collaborative mixtape series, Other People’s Heartache, as its third chapter. This portion of the record will include six songs, including collaborations with Alok and Tyde and the band’s recently released single “Remind Me.”
Pre-order Give Me The Future + Dreams Of The Past, out August 26. View the complete tracklist below.
PART ONE – GIVE ME THE FUTURE
1. Distorted Light Beam
2. Thelma + Louise
3. No Bad Days
4. Brave New World (Interlude)
5. Back To The Future
6. Plug In…
7. Promises (by Riz Ahmed)
8. Shut Off The Lights
9. Stay Awake?
10. Give Me The Future
11. Club 57
12. Total Dissociation (Interlude)
13. Future Holds (feat. BIM)
PART TWO – DREAMS OF THE PAST
1. Back To The Innerverse (Interlude)
2. Real Life
3. Family Ties
4. Distorted Light Beam (Reprise)
5. Revolution
6. survivin’
7. No More Bad Days
8. Hope For The Future
PART THREE – OTHER PEOPLE’S HEARTACHE
1. Other People’s Heartache (Interlude)
2. Run Into Trouble (Alok x Bastille)
3. Remind Me
4. Eight Hours (Bastille x Tyde)
5. Dancing In The Dark
6. Running Away