Good Grief', the first track taken from Bastille's imminent second album 'Wild World', marked Dan Smith and his pals' return in gloriously catchy, upbeat form. If you're expecting more of the same from 'Fake It' you might want to give your preconceptions a little shake-up.
Of course, like 'Good Grief', it begins with a sample of movie dialogue. From there on in, it's almost completely different. Gone are the funk baselines and jaunty handclaps, in comes sultry R&B falsetto sighs and a slow-building, slow-burning piece of sombre pop.
Where its predecessor made yearning for someone almost seem like a riot, 'Fake It' makes being hopelessly in love seem very serious indeed. "Show me joy, flowers through disarray/Let's destroy each mistake that we made," sings Smith over gently bubbling synths, later declaring "I wanna waste all of my time with you".
Bastille have long talked up their love of hip-hop and dabbled in sampling and remixing on their mixtape series 'Other People's Heartache', including their single 'Of The Night', which fused Corona's 'The Rhythm Of The Night' with Snap!'s 'Rhythm Is A Dancer'. That influence is still present here, the chorus full of thundering but languid drums and the latter half of the track driven by a skittering, crunching beat.
Smith's called 'Fake It' his favourite track from 'Wild World' and, while it's not as immediate as 'Good Grief', it's bound to sound gigantic come the band's dates at The O2 in November.
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