Bastille have shared the video for their latest single Joy, taken from their highly-anticipated third album, Doom Days out June 14th.
Featuring real CCTV footage embellished by directors Brain Wash, the video gives a humorous look at the things people do when they think no one’s looking. From casually hooking up in office cubicles to deliberately tripping up a disruptive small child; what counts as joy for some isn’t necessarily what it means for others. The montage twists some of the more sinister clips poking fun at the dark undertones, be that a man in an England shirt at an EDL rally proudly waving a sign that reads “We love migrants” or a paramedic dancing giddily in his ambulance next to a cartoon medical bill for a million pounds.
Speaking about the video, frontman Dan Smith said, “This video looks at the things that bring us joy, when we think no one’s looking. Things that are done secretly, maybe compulsively, that we wouldn’t want other people to see. What seems strange and unthinkable to one person might bring pleasure to someone else. It’s fascinating that most people have a version of themselves they want to show in public – at work or online – and a version they don’t. We wanted to show it all.”
The final track on Doom Days, Joy completes Bastille’s journey through a big night out, from an Uber ride through the city streets to waking up on the kitchen floor. The healing sounds of the euphoric single see the demons of life’s hangovers dispelled by a simple phone call from someone special, giving a reminder that there’s still hope.
With the band at their most lyrically provocative, most accomplished, and most vital, the album Doom Days taps into globally held anxieties, while also working on a much more intimate level. It celebrates real human connections and urges us to keep searching for moments of elation. It also finds Bastille evolving sonically once again and continuing to push things forward, pulling instrumentation from their much-acclaimed Re-Orchestrated tour and mixing genres like gospel, house music and R&B.
Bastille’s unique sound – that cinematic, melancholic pop that sometimes masks the unusual subject matters reflected in their lyrics – has connected with audiences across the globe like no other British band in recent memory. Having sold over 8 million albums and with accumulated global streams reaching over 6.5 billion, the band continue to be one of Spotify’s top 40 most listened to artists in the world. Their previous albums both debuted at No.1 in the U.K. and charted top 10 in the U.S