Bombay Bicycle Club, Earls Court

The fact that Bombay Bicycle club are playing Earl’s Court in December marks their ascension to the indie pantheon.You don’t play the 20, 000 capacity arena unless you’re kind of a big deal.

The band are indie survivors. Formed in2006, when they were Norf London schoolboys, they entered an industry choked with identikit jangly bands. But Bombay Bicycle Club were smarter than their cutesy contemporaries. They’ve proved their mettle with three diverse albums,each a reinvention (I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose in 2009; Flaws in 2010; A Different Kind of Fix in 2011) released at the healthy rate of one a year.  

Each record has been an about-turn from the last: the band have evolved from rangy indie-kids (2009) to mournful folksters(2010) to synth-rockers (2011). But all are sprung from fiercely intelligent composition,world-music rhythms and lots of effects pedals, overlayed with frontman Jack Steadman’s quavering vocals.

Their fourth album, 2014’s So Long, See You Tomorrow,  topped the album chart in February. It’s their most electronic yet; at times it’s almost clubby, as in 'Carry Me'. It’s also their most varied – perhaps this is why it took almost twice as long as any other. Penned while Steadman was travelling the world, So Long... has a rich, Eastern flavour. Tabla beats and riotous, Bollywood top samples lead songs such as 'Overdone' and 'Feel'.

There are quieter moments, too– 'Eyes Off You' is a slip of a thing: a little bit James Blakean, with its heartbreak, its piano and its throbbing electric pulse.

The band are at the height of their powers. Catch them this December before they reinvent themselves all over again.