Bastille invite you to immerse yourself in the music of their fourth studio album, the number one-charting and critically acclaimed ‘Give Me The Future’ in a ground-breaking new project via the Oculus Quest app, and in partnership with creative company WPP and EMI Records. It was built using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. The ‘Give Me The Future’ album had sci-fi themes and was a look at how we interact with modern technology in terms of human connection. It contained sci-fi references from film, literature, video games and VR.
Earlier this week, we joined the experience as we watched the four-song metaverse (or “Futureverse”, as the British band like to call it) concert at the project’s London launch. Using VR headsets, we were able to watch four pre-recorded songs: 'Give Me The Future', 'Distorted Light Beam', 'No Bad Days' and 'Shut Off The Lights'.
While Fortnite concerts from Travis Scott and Ariana Grande have attracted millions of viewers, Bastille’s Give Me The Future Experience is set to do the same, but is much more interactive for fans. The Give Me The Future Experience aims to bring the metaverse into our reality, rather than the other way around. They achieved this by bringing the metaverse to a live performance in the real world. When the songs were recorded, fans had the option to scan themselves into the worlds that had been created and interact with the band members (Dan Smith, Kyle Simmons, Chris ‘Woody’ Wood and Will Farquarson) without the worry of travel restrictions and the cost of travelling across the world to see the bands they enjoy.
A metaverse concert is unlike anything you will have ever experienced before. It is quite surreal and pretty mindblowing as, with the first song, you enter a futuristic (of course) cityscape with skyscrapers and giant billboards featuring the engaging live performance. There is a feeling that you are almost flying as people dance to the songs below and fireworks go off in time with Dan Smith’s dance moves, at times. A special piano version of ‘No Bad Days’ is a more mellow vibe as Dan sings earnestly on a song that has a very personal meaning for him. ‘Shut Off The Lights’ takes place in a Mad-Max-like, desert-style setting. It can all be a little distracting if all you want to do is watch a concert in a traditional sense, but for fans of the band, what better way to enjoy their music than being in a world focused entirely on Bastille? It’s the dream!
Some fans shared concerns about the environmental impact a project like this can have, over social media, however, Bastille insists this is something they took into serious consideration when working on the project and have made the project as sustainable as they possibly could. The project was a way to explore the next chapter of live music and also build on fan interaction.
Bastille vocalist, Dan, and keyboardist, Kyle, joined via Zoom for a Q and A session from Boston, USA, where they are currently on tour. They explained how they are always trying to push boundaries within their music and also gave some insight on what new releases from them will look like. Continuing on from their latest album, Dan said new songs like today’s release ‘Remind Me’ are “more meditations on the future” and also shared that they are working on the next instalment of their Other People’s Heartache mixtapes. Speaking on ‘Remind Me’, Dan told us: “This song ‘Remind Me’ was part of the production world [and] writing experience of ‘Give Me The Future’… It’s very much written within that world.”
At the end of the day, it’s all very cool and a truly unique experience! If you enjoyed the ‘Give Me The Future’ album, this is an opportunity to enjoy the songs in a refreshing, new way.
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Words: Chloe Louise
Photo Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett
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