Bastille’s Dan Smith releases Edvard Munch-inspired solo track ‘Blue Sky & the Painter’

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

Bastille’s Dan Smith has released a further two tracks from his forthcoming solo album project, & (Ampersand).

The frontman and songwriter for the British pop act announced the songs on Friday 13 September, along with the news that the full album will drop on 25 October.

Smith has previously shared the first part of &/Ampersand, which featured four tracks: “Intros and Narrators”, “Eve & Her Paradise Lost”, “Seasons & Narcissus”, and “Emily and Her Penthouse in the Sky”.

“Blue Sky & The Painter” was inspired by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and his relationship with depression, with the lyrics depicting the narrator who sees “a crack of light in life after a long period of darkness”.

In May, Smith performed a pared-back version of the song in the middle of the Sargasso Sea, an important marine ecosystem, in support of Greenpeace to raise awareness of protecting the planet’s oceans.

Meanwhile, “Leonard & Marianne” tackles longing and loss and was influenced by the complex relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen.

In a behind-the-scenes video released last year, Smith, 32, explained how he came to record &, during a temporary hiatus from his Brit Award-winning pop band.

“I’ve always loved writing story songs, and using tales of other people as a way into making music, and of talking about my experiences in life,” he explains in the clip.

“Over the last few years, I’ve been working on a whole load of songs about people who I think are fascinating, and whose lives really spoke to me.

“Then, towards the end of last year, me and the guys [in Bastille] decided to take a bit of a break from touring, but after settling back into life at home, I found myself picking these story songs back up.”

Smith then gathered a group of trusted collaborators to go and record the project: “I didn’t really know what this project of mine was, but I knew I wanted to go about making it in a new and different way. I wrote these songs at my kitchen table, so they needed to sound homemade and intimate and warm.”

Fans can tune into a deeper dive into the characters who inspired the album in Smith’s MUSES: An Ampersand Podcast, which sees him discuss the poets, artists and trailblazers featured on the record with academic Emma Nagouse.

The podcast launches on 18 September and will be available on major streaming platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify.

Smith is also embarking on an intimate series of one-off shows in support of the album, including Paris, Belgium, London, Los Angeles and New York.

Full dates and cities below:

10 November – La Cigale, Paris

11 November – Cirque Royal, Belgium

13 November – Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam

14 November – Theatre Des Westens, Berlin

17 November – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

23 November – United Theatre, LA

25 November – Town Hall, New York

Tickets are on sale now. Ampersand is out on 25 October.