An ampersand intimately and magically joins things together. “&” (Ampersand) is also the name of an exhilarating new Bastille project from Dan Smith, a collection of story songs that intertwine the lives and wide worlds of startling women and men. Poets and artists, anthropologists and scientists, characters from religion and myth, outsiders and trailblazers, all come to life here, in sound worlds fed by new collaborations, dazzling arrangements and an infectious spirit of musical freedom. “&” is a collection of songs about looking out at the world, disappearing into other lives rather than into ourselves, and about the humanity that can crackle and shimmer as a consequence. 1. Intros & Narrators2. Eve & Paradise Lost3. Emily & Her Penthouse In The Sky4. Blue Sky & The Painter5. Leonard & Marianne6. Marie & Polonium7. Red Wine & Wilde8. Seasons & Narcissus9. Drawbridge & The Baroness10. The Soprano & Her Midnight Wonderings11. Essie & Paul12. Mademoiselle & The Nunnery Blaze13. Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her14. Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024
