Everything Else Has Gone Wrong is less a grand comeback album than a warm “welcome back” album.
The video for Everything Else Has Gone Wrong’s first single “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)”, depicts a world where Bombay Bicycle Club’s announcement that they were going on “indefinite hiatus” in 2016 triggered a societal collapse. On one hand, it does feel like a long time since the simpler era of 2014, when Bombay Bicycle Club last gave us the brilliant So Long, See You Tomorrow. On the other hand, a six-year gap between albums is just a blip in the grand scheme of indie bands. Johnny Borell formed a new Razorlight after disappearing for a decade, and the Libertines took a similar amount of time to reconcile and release a third album. Across the pond, the Black Keys followed a similar pattern to Bombay Bicycle Club, with a hiatus that lasted from 2015 – 2019. Just this month, Bright Eyes announced they were getting back together after allegedly disbanding in 2011. While Bombay Bicycle Club were missed during their time apart, indie reunion announcements are starting to seem a little less surprising.
Therefore, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong is less a grand comeback album than a warm “welcome back” album. It brings together the styles and sounds heard on Bombay Bicycle Club’s last four releases…and that’s about it. That said, what it does do, it does very well.
Everything Else Has Gone Wrong excels when it scratches that milder, mid-tempo indie rock itch. Bombay Bicycle Club’s 2009 debut I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose was best summarized as “post-punk for sensitive lads,” which you hear on the stellar “Is It Real” from Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. It’s got the same snare beat as Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go,” and adds flashes of electric guitar riffs at its chorus. However, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong arguably takes most of its cues from 2011’s A Different Kind of Fix, which was when the band added a dash of electronica to the mix. There are subtle synthesizers under the stops and starts of the title track, while “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)” uses a synthesizer crescendo to build the tension of its repeated chorus. “People People” (featuring guest singer Liz Lawrence) has a dance-like drum beat a la earlier hit “Shuffle,” and the acoustic loops of “I Can Hardly Speak” make it sounds like the band doing a spin on their folk album Flaws. All of these tracks combine the best aspects of their pre-hiatus releases, and Bombay Bicycle Club deftly combine rock, baroque pop, and electronic music without anything sounding contrived.
Bombay Bicycle Club’s members kept quite busy during their time apart from one another. Singer Jack Steadman went across the Pacific on a cargo ship and released a solo album under the name “Mr. Jukes.” Bassist Ed Nash and drummer Suren de Saram released an album under side project “Toothless.” Guitarist Jamie MacColl got degrees and made a documentary. You might think these intervening experiences made them more cool and confident, but Everything Else Has Gone Wrong is altogether a very anxious album. “Is It Real” kicks off with the relatable sentiment, “Is it real? I want to go back, times have all changed and I don’t want that.” “I Can Hardly Speak” reflects a longing to be alone, while “Do You Feel Loved?” asks social media users seeking affirmation its titular question. Then there’s “Good Day,” where Steadman reflects on aging and realizes, “I just want to have a good day, and it’s only me that’s standing in my way.” You could probably guess from the album’s title (and the general state of the world) that it’s a little more pessimistic than Bombay Bicycle Club’s past fare, but its more introspective than I’d anticipated. At least the title track offers the advice “keep the stereo on, everything else has gone wrong.”
Right before their hiatus, Bombay Bicycle Club’s 2014 album So Long, See You Tomorrow took the bold step of swapping guitars with unconventional looped samples. It worked well then, but unfortunately isn’t easily replicated on Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. The sentimentality of “I Worry Bout You” is undermined by a sample of sharp inhales that echo throughout, making what would have been a bland track grating. “Let You Go” is another candidate for failed sentimentality. It’s based around a cut-up sample of what sounds like someone singing “touching me here, washing me,” but is actually someone singing in Mandarin. Steadman matches this false-cognate loop with a chorus of “touching me here, touching me there,” an eyebrow raising choice on an otherwise potent electronic track. You may also recall that So Long, See You Tomorrow had some airy ballads (see “Eyes Off You,”), which Everything Else Has Gone Wrong reprises for its closing track “Racing Stripes.” It’s got an orchestral, cinematic feel that only really works as a closer, but this is a band that thrives when there’s rhythm. It also doesn’t help that all of these tracks are on the second half of the album, making Everything Else Has Gone Wrong a bit lopsided.
Whenever a band breaks up or goes on hiatus, there’s always that dilemma of whether they can stay retired with a sealed (and hopefully good) legacy or take their chances by reuniting and making new music. I am glad that Bombay Bicycle Club gave us Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, even if its summary is just “the reunion album” rather than “the folk one” or “the one where they dabbled in electronica.” The cynical part of me wondered if I only appreciated it so much because of the nostalgia factor, meaning I was just happy to have something new by the band, but this isn’t the case. Everything Else Has Gone Wrong is a welcome addition to Bombay Bicycle Club’s discography, and their return is fortunately not something that’s gone wrong.
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