Bombay Bicycle Club

Brighton Centre

Saturday, Feb 1

THERE is a lot of pressure on a fifth album.

By this stage most artists have started to run out of ideas.

The sound has gone stale and the lyrics feel repetitive and predictable.

So my excitement was tinged with underlying nerves as I made my way to the Brighton Centre to hear first-hand what Bombay Bicycle Clubs latest offering, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, was all about.

Having been a fan of the band for some time now, I should have known there was nothing to worry about.

Frontman Jack Steadman told fans it was about how, when a day is not going as planned, it can seem the world is against you.

But one positive thing can pick you back up.

Something like a gig, he said with a wry smile.

The album was released last month off the back of a four year hiatus by the band.

But, rather than use this time to relax after years of relentless recording and performing, the musicians instead chose to keep themselves busy.

Members have a Brexit campaign aiming to involve young people in politics, a degree in War Studies and a solo jazz album to show for their four-year break.

The influence of the latter, released by frontman Jack Steadman under the pseudonym Mr Jukes, could be seen in the show with a three-piece brass section mounted on a podium for several of the band’s new songs.

This created a carnival atmosphere inside the venue.

Watching from the seated area above, you could see the shoulders of the crowd writhe in unison, conducted by the band’s irresistibly infectious festival sound which has dominated their more recent releases.

With the release of the new album, the band resisted the temptation to give their latest track a start to finish.

Instead, the master mixologists gave fans a trip through time as they performed songs from each of their albums.

Guitarist Jamie MacColl delighted the audience as he announced they would be playing a string of songs from their first album, 2009’s I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose.

It showed how the band has changed, mellowed slightly, over the years.

The brass-section left the stage, superseded by thrashing guitars and meaty bass lines.

The crowd which had moments before been exercising some pendulum hips reverted to pogo-ing and some semi-successful mosh pits.

But, what remained constant throughout the set was that the band did not miss a beat.

Each song provided piece of a musical montage which reminded old fans why they loved the band, and showed newcomers what they had been missing.

An encore of Always Like This, arguably Bombay’s best-known track, capped off a delightful auditory saunter down memory lane.