Bastille have defended the use of nudity in their video for ‘Good Grief’.
The band – comprised of Dan Smith, Chris ‘Woody’ Wood, Will Farquarson and Kyle Simmons – have been slammed for featuring naked women in their latest video but Smith insists it is "intended to be artistic".
Dan told Digital Spy: "In the video, there’s moments of violence that nobody cares about. I think that’s more interesting. I read one comment that was like, ‘Why is everyone talking about nudity when there’s a bank robbery that’s quite full on.’ That says a lot about our reactions. It’s intended to be artistic.
"Some people are bringing up the nudity and other people are immediately jumping to its defence saying it’s not sexualised and it doesn’t feel exploitative.
"The music video takes scenes and tropes and flips them on their head. One of which is a girl and I think it’s interesting to see the reaction it provokes. In some countries and some societies, female nudity isn’t remotely controversial."
Will was equally baffled by the controversy, adding: "It wasn’t gratuitous. I think it’s well in keeping with the tone of the video.
Meanwhile, the band will release, ‘Wild World’, the follow-up to 2013’s ‘Bad Blood’ in September and they previously revealed that they have experimented with different styles of music this time around.
Dan said: "When we started the album it was alternative R&B, a lot more electronic, then we went down a heavier rock route as well, then we almost came full circle back around to what we did the first record, more cinematic, then we did a load of horns. So it could be a lot of different things. But we just want the songs to be good and memorable and we want the album to be fucking interesting and a good progression from the last record, something that we’re proud of."
Bastille defends nude video
