In honor of the tenth anniversary of Bastille’s breakthrough record Bad Blood, the band will be releasing a special edition of the album, Bad Blood X, on July 14th. This new version will feature three never-before-heard demos, two covers, and live tracks on top of today’s single release: an official recording of their fan-favorite track “No Angels.”
“No Angels” is a mash-up of TLC’s iconic “No Scrubs” and The XX’s “Angels,” the latter of which was an indie staple alongside many Bad Blood tracks for the era’s Tumblr kids. Originally heard on the group’s mixtape Other People’s Heartache p.t 2, the new recording once again features English singer-songwriter, Ella Eyre. The recording is faithful to the original release but with a nice step up in audio quality.
In a press release, Smith reflects on the anniversary, saying, “When I started working on the songs that became ‘Bad Blood’ 10 years ago at a laptop in my bedroom, I never imagined that they’d be heard by so many people and then take us all over the world. It’s really mad to think about.”
He continues, “Ten years on, we wanted to put something special together to celebrate the album, whilst not messing with it too much. We had so much fun digging back through old artwork, photos, and videos from that time to make a totally new package of artwork. My Dad even found an old CD-R of some of demos in the attic (that somehow people managed to pry out of my hands for a new 7” vinyl as part of this release – trust me… I didn’t think those versions would ever get heard). Putting all this together was such a nice way to step back into that world for a moment, and we really hope our fans feel the same way.”
Bad Blood X will be released in a 2 x CD format, and it will additionally be available on a clear vinyl and a special 7-inch record and available for pre-order.