View source for My Big Day

{{Use British English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox album
| name        = My Big Day
| type        = studio
| artist      = [[Bombay Bicycle Club]]
| cover       = Bombay Bicycle Club - My Big Day.png
| alt         = A suited man with eggs on his eyes
| released    = {{start date|2023|10|20|df=y}}
| recorded    = <!-- Please source recording dates/years -->
| studio      = [[The Church Studios|The Church]], London
| genre       = <!-- Please source genres -->
| length      = 43:34
| label       =
* Mmm...
* [[Island Records|Island]]
* [[AWAL]]
| producer    = [[Mr Jukes|Jack Steadman]]
| prev_title  = [[Everything Else Has Gone Wrong]]
| prev_year   = 2020
| next_title  = Fantasies
| next_year   = 2024
| misc        = {{Singles
| name        = My Big Day
| type        = studio
| single1     = My Big Day
| single1date = 14 June 2023
| single2     = Diving
| single2date = 19 July 2023
| single3     = I Want to Be Your Only Pet
| single3date = 23 August 2023
| single4     = Turn the World On
| single4date = 13 September 2023
| single5     = Tekken 2
| single5date = 11 October 2023
}}
}}
'''''My Big Day''''' is the sixth studio album by the English [[indie rock]] band [[Bombay Bicycle Club]]. It was released on 20 October 2023 by the band's own Mmm... Records imprint of [[Island Records]], and was produced by frontman [[Mr Jukes|Jack Steadman]]; the first to be produced by him since 2014's ''[[So Long, See You Tomorrow (album)|So Long, See You Tomorrow]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/my-big-day-bombay-bicycle-club-on-their-eclectic-and-star-studded-sixth-album-33579/|title=''My Big Day'': Bombay Bicycle Club on their eclectic and star-studded sixth album|magazine=[[Rolling Stone UK]]|last=Reilly|first=Nick|date=17 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref> The album includes collaborations with [[Jay Som]], [[Nilüfer Yanya]], [[Damon Albarn]], [[Chaka Khan]] and [[Holly Humberstone]]. It received acclaim from critics.
==Recording==
The album was recorded at [[The Church Studios]] in North London.<ref name="liner notes">{{cite AV media notes |title=My Big Day |others=Bombay Bicycle Club |publisher=Mmm... Records |year=2023 |type=liner notes |id=MMM601}}</ref>
"Sleepless" and "Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture" feature sample replays produced by Ali Jamieson, Richard Adlam and Hal Ritson for Replay Heaven.<ref name="liner notes" />
==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| MC = 82/100<ref name="MC">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/my-big-day/bombay-bicycle-club|title=''My Big Day'' by Bombay Bicycle Club Reviews and Tracks|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=12 November 2023}}</ref>
| rev1 = ''[[DIY (magazine)|DIY]]''
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="DIY">{{cite magazine|url=https://diymag.com/review/album/bombay-bicycle-club-my-big-day|title=Bombay Bicycle Club – ''My Big Day'' review|magazine=[[DIY (magazine)|DIY]]|last=Wright|first=Lisa|date=20 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Evening Standard]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Standard">{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/bombay-bicycle-club-my-big-day-album-review-chaka-khan-damon-albarn-b1114841.html|title=Bombay Bicycle Club – ''My Big Day'' album review: a star-studded surprise|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|last=Smyth|first=David|date=20 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Line of Best Fit]]''
| rev3score = 8/10<ref name="TLOBF">{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/bombay-bicycle-club-my-big-day-most-unpredictable|title=Bombay Bicycle Club: ''My Big Day'' Review – unpredictable reemergence|website=[[The Line of Best Fit]]|last=Williams|first=Lana|date=18 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[MusicOMH]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="OMH">{{cite web|url=https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/bombay-bicycle-club-my-big-day|title=Bombay Bicycle Club – ''My Big Day'' {{!}} Album Reviews|website=[[MusicOMH]]|last=Murphy|first=John|date=20 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="NME">{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/reviews/album/bombay-bicycle-club-my-big-day-review-3518249|title=Bombay Bicycle Club – ''My Big Day'' review: indie heroes enlist Damon Albarn and Chaka Khan|website=[[NME]]|last=Shah|first=Rishi|date=19 October 2023|access-date=21 October 2023}}</ref>
}}
''My Big Day'' received a score of 82 out of 100 on review aggregator [[Metacritic]] based on six critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref name="MC"/> David Smyth of the ''[[Evening Standard]]'' called the album both "a star-studded surprise" and "an album that is excellently suited to the impatient streaming generation. It's 11 bands for the price of one".<ref name="Standard"/> Rishi Shah of ''[[NME]]'' described it as having an "unwavering sense of adventure" and felt "the results are as eclectic as [its guest vocalists] would suggest", concluding that it is "a creative milestone in itself" as well as "a far cry from the four-to-the-floor, teenage guitar band that a whole generation grew up with".<ref name="NME"/>
Reviewing the album for ''[[The Line of Best Fit]]'', Lana Williams summarised it as the band's "most unpredictable and utterly impressive album to date" as well as "vibrant, joyous, and completely delectable".<ref name="TLOBF"/> ''[[MusicOMH]]''{{'}}s John Murphy wrote that "although much of the album is still very recognisable 'Bombay Bicycle Club', it also takes many unexpected turns" on account of its guest vocalists, also dubbing it "the sound of a band off the leash".<ref name="OMH"/> Lisa Wright of ''[[DIY (magazine)|DIY]]'' opined that it is a "record that feels effortlessly comfortable in its own skin whilst still managing to tread new ground" and "the best the band have ever sounded".<ref name="DIY"/>
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = ''My Big Day'' track listing
| all_writing = [[Mr Jukes|Jack Steadman]], except where noted.
| title1 = Just a Little More Time
| length1 = 3:22
| title2 = I Want to Be Your Only Pet
| length2 = 3:34
| title3 = Sleepless
| note3 = with [[Jay Som]]
| writer3 = {{hlist|Steadman|[[Beabadoobee|Beatrice Laus]]|[[Jay Som|Melina Duterte]]|Shinichi Tanabe}}
| length3 = 4:05
| title4 = My Big Day
| writer4 = {{hlist|Steadman|Ed Nash}}
| length4 = 2:48
| title5 = Turn the World On
| length5 = 3:30
| title6 = Meditate
| note6 = with [[Nilüfer Yanya]]
| length6 = 5:23
| title7 = Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture
| length7 = 2:04
| title8 = Heaven
| note8 = with [[Damon Albarn]]
| writer8 = {{hlist|Steadman|Damon Albarn|[[Pierre-Edouard Décimus]]}}
| length8 = 5:22
| title9 = Tekken 2
| note9 = with [[Chaka Khan]]
| length9 = 3:50
| title10 = Diving
| note10 = featuring [[Holly Humberstone]]
| length10 = 3:35
| title11 = Onward
| length11 = 6:01
| total_length = 43:34
}}
'''Notes'''
* "Sleepless" contains elements of the composition "Hell's Gate Island", as written by Shinichi Tanabe.<ref name="liner notes" />
* "My Big Day" contains elements from the sample pack 1993 by Soul Surplus.<ref name="liner notes" />
* "Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture" contains elements of the composition "La Peri", as written by [[Paul Dukas]].<ref name="liner notes" />
* "Heaven" contains elements of "Pouqui" by Les Vikings de la Guadeloupe, as written by [[Pierre-Edouard Décimus]].<ref name="liner notes" />
==Personnel==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
'''Bombay Bicycle Club'''
* [[Mr Jukes|Jack Steadman]] – brass arrangement and composition (11)
* Jamie MacColl
* Suren De Saram
* Ed Nash
'''Additional musicians'''
* [[Freya Douglas-Morris]] – backing vocals (1, 8)
* Tamara Douglas-Morris – backing vocals (1, 8)
* James Higson – backing vocals (1, 8)
* Neill MacColl – backing vocals (1, 8)
* Daniel McCarthy – backing vocals (1, 8)
* [[Rae Morris]] – backing vocals (1, 5, 8)
* [[Flyte (band)|Will Taylor]] – backing vocals (1, 2)
* [[Flyte (band)|Nicolas Hill]] – backing vocals (1, 2)
* Dorcas Kiernan – backing vocals (9)
* [[Sally Herbert]] – strings, brass and woodwind arrangement and composition (8)
* [[Kate St John]] – brass arrangement and composition (11)
* Natalie Bonner – violin (8)
* Calina de la Mare – violin (8)
* Richard George – violin (8)
* Everton Nelson – violin (8)
* [[Tom Pigott-Smith]] – violin (8)
* Reiad Chibah – viola (8, 11)
* Kate Musker – viola (8)
* Ian Burdge – cello (8)
* Richard Pryce – bass (8)
* [[Daniel Newell|Dan Newell]] – trumpet (8)
* [[Richard Watkins]] – French horn (8, 11)
* Andy Woods – trombone (8, 11)
* Eliza Marshall – flute (8)
* Anthony Pike – clarinet (8), bass clarinet (8)
* Tom Leaper – saxophone (2, 6, 11)
* Dan Berry – saxophone (6, 11)
* Jonny Murray – trumpet (6, 11)
{{col-2}}
'''Technical'''
* Jack Steadman – production (all tracks)
* [[Paul Epworth]] – production (8)
* [[Ben H. Allen]] – production (5)
* [[Dave Fridmann]] – mixing (all tracks)
* Matt Wiggins – engineering (1–4, 6–11)
* Billy Halliday – engineering (5)
* Chiara Ferracuti – assistant engineering (1–7, 9–11)
* Balázs Altsach – assistant engineering (8)
* [[Greg Calbi]] – mastering
* [[Steve Fallone]]{{efn|Erroneously credited as "Steve Ferrone" in the liner notes.}} – mastering
'''Sample replay on "Sleepless"'''
* Ali Jamieson – production, vocals, keyboards and programming
* Hal Ritson – production, vocals, guitar and bass, keyboards and programming
* Richard Adlam – production, vocals, keyboards and programming
* Kelly Barnes – vocals
* [[Vula Malinga]] – vocals
* Stuart Pringle – drums
* Nerys Richard – cello
* Marianne Haynes – violins
* Graeme Blevins – flutes
* Neil Waters – trumpets
'''Sample replay on "Rural Radio Predicts the Rapture"'''
* Ali Jamieson – production, keyboards and programming
* Hal Ritson – production, keyboards and programming
* Richard Adlam – production, keyboards and programming
* Neil Waters – trumpets
* [[Ashley Slater]] – trombone and horns
'''Art'''
* Amelia Studios – creative direction
* Brendan Freeman – artwork photographs
* Rory Dewar – cover design
* Ed Nash – cover design
{{col-end}}
==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for ''My Big Day''
! scope="col"| Chart (2023)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Ireland|20|M|url=http://irma.ie/index.cfm?page=irish-charts&chart=Albums|title=Irish Albums Chart: 27 October 2023|publisher=[[Irish Recorded Music Association]]|rowheader=true|access-date=27 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|2|date=20231027|rowheader=true|access-date=28 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|3|date=20231027|rowheader=true|access-date=27 October 2023}}
|-
{{album chart|UKIndependent|1|date=20231027|rowheader=true|access-date=28 October 2023}}
|}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Bombay Bicycle Club}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:2023 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Jack Steadman (musician)]]
[[Category:AWAL albums]]
[[Category:Bombay Bicycle Club albums]]
[[Category:Island Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at The Church Studios]]