British band Bastille have released a remix of hit single Pompeii with composer Hans Zimmer. Photo: Club Social
British band Bastille have released a remix of hit single Pompeii with composer Hans Zimmer. Photo: Club Social
British band Bastille have released a remix of hit single Pompeii with composer Hans Zimmer. Photo: Club Social
British band Bastille have released a remix of hit single Pompeii with composer Hans Zimmer. Photo: Club Social

Bastille singer Dan Smith reflects on 'exciting privilege' of working with Hans Zimmer


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

A telling lyric in Bastille's celebrated debut album Bad Blood arrives in the middle track Weight of Living, Pt. II.

Over percolating synths and clattered beats, singer Dan Smith croons, “Do you like the person you've become?”

As well as echoing the album’s ruminative themes, it is a salient question today with the UK band celebrating the 10th anniversary of the album with a tour that brings them to Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena on Wednesday.

Speaking to The National, Smith, 37, considers the question he posed himself all those years ago when penning the song in his bedroom.

“I was in my early 20s back then and it is a time in your life where you are trying to figure out things and what you are going to do in a world that felt uncertain,” he says.

“At that time we thought Bastille would be some weird, cinematic, tiny indie band and never imagined travelling the world and playing the kind of venues we are able to play.

“While that itself has been amazing, I am glad that I am still really obsessed with making music and that's what continues to drive me.”

Dan Smith, lead vocalist of British band Bastille, performs at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre in 2015. Victor Besa / The National
Dan Smith, lead vocalist of British band Bastille, performs at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre in 2015. Victor Besa / The National

Indeed, Bastille have been relatively prolific since bursting on to the mainstream with hits Pompeii and Flaws, having released four albums and three mixtapes.

The latest song has them looking back to the beginning, with a new remix of Pompeii by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer.

More orchestral than the original, Zimmer adds his touch in an extended version with evocative synths and strings, as well as transforming the song’s key chants into an almost a cappella section.

It sounds like something out of Zimmer’s Lion King or Gladiator soundtracks, which, Smith notes, is partly the point of the exercise.

“It does feel like we have come full circle in a way,” he adds.

“So many of the songs we have, particularly on Bad Blood, have strings or loads of choir parts which I sang.

“So to get to a point where we can do this version with a real choir and orchestra and with someone like Zimmer – who is responsible for so many huge cultural moments for me – is exciting and a privilege.”

It also bears the fruit of the band’s decision to stay the course.

While Bad Blood found almost immediate success upon its release, it came on the back of three years of touring the UK in small venues and releasing their debut 2011 EP Laura Palmer on YouTube and MySpace.

“We always listed outside of what the media landscape hyped as cool,” Smith says.

“So when we had that success it felt really genuine, because of the fact we had toured as a band, slept on floors and driven ourselves around the country playing tiny clubs, all while putting our music online and blogs.

“People came to our music just by discovering it. And because there wasn't that kind of hype around us, when we had that commercial success it put some people's noses out of joint because they thought we had come from nowhere.

“They chose to see us as some kind of manufactured thing.

“Instead it was always a groundswell of support that slowly grew.”

Good timing also played a part in Bastille’s success.

Smith says the band arrived at a period before music streaming platforms arrived to saturate the market.

“And it's getting even more tricky now, particularly for bands from Europe to tour the UK in the post-Brexit world,” he says.

“I feel that we were fortunate to emerge at a time which, looking back, felt more simple.”

Bastille performs on Wednesday at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets start from Dh199 and are available at coca-cola-arena.com

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PROFILE OF STARZPLAY

Date started: 2014

Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand

Number of employees: 125

Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Mica

Director: Ismael Ferroukhi

Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani

3 stars

Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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MATCH INFO

Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
 
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
UAE v Oman - abandoned
Oman v Namibia - abandoned

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Price: From Dh801,800
AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5

WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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1. Fasting 

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3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5

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Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu

Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

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Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km

Price: from Dh362,500

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Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

RESULTS
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Ramy%3A%20Season%203%2C%20Episode%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreators%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAri%20Katcher%2C%20Ryan%20Welch%2C%20Ramy%20Youssef%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERamy%20Youssef%2C%20Amr%20Waked%2C%20Mohammed%20Amer%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO

Day 2 at the Gabba

Australia 312-1 

Warner 151 not out, Burns 97,  Labuschagne 55 not out

Pakistan 240 

Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52

Updated: October 31, 2023, 2:03 PM`