ALBUM REVIEW: VS. - Other People’s Heartache Part III by Bastille

After a busy year collecting Brit awards and selling out two Alexandra Palace shows, the London outfit gives us a tidy bit of what they’ve been up since 2013.

Bastille have now released an eight track collaboration album called VS – Other People’s Heartache Part III, the third instalment of the band’s mixtape releases following on from Part I and II.

This time they are joined by an array of fellow artists including Haim, Angel  Haze and Lizzo.

Having taken a year to put together, Smith describes VS as a “a patchwork of stuff that we've been working on and people we've been working with throughout 2014”.

The first single from the album entitled Torn Apart featuring Grades, retains Dan Smith’s instantly recognisable lyrical style  yet aims to embrace other genres including both electronic, house and rap.

These facets are pulled off with ease, demonstrating the band’s flexibility while offering listeners a fresh sound –  something similar indie-pop acts seem to struggle with.

Other tracks include the groove-infused guitar led “Bite Down” with sister trio Haim, along with the hip hop inspired offering of “Weapons” featuring Angel Haze.

On the collaborations Smith said: “It’s always been really important to me to constantly make new music and also to collaborate with people, something we don’t really fo on our proper albums”.

Cynics may ask what prompts this release so close to their forthcoming album.

If its job is to whet the appetite of what is to come if certainly does just that.

However the collaboration tracks are worthy of merit on their own and will a welcome addition to any Bastille fan’s playlist.

VS. will be released on the December 8.