Bastille‘s Dan Smith recently played a new unreleased song while onboard a Greenpeace ship in the Bermuda Triangle.
Titled ‘Blue Sky & the Painter’, Smith performed the track while sat on the prow of the iconic Greenpeace ship with his acoustic guitar. The video sees him on the boat as the sun is setting with the vast Atlantic Ocean is around him.
The area is famous as the home of the Bermuda Triangle – where ships and planes have supposedly disappeared without a trace.
Speaking about the track in a press release, Smith shared: “The song is about Edvard Munch finally seeing a crack of light in life after a long period of darkness, and it felt like a theme that resonated with this particular opportunity that we now have to protect these vast blue spaces that we all depend on.”
He continued: “I was invited onto this iconic ship to learn and help out, but when we found ourselves in unusually calm water within the Bermuda Triangle, 240 nautical miles away from the nearest land, it just felt like an ideal opportunity to collaborate with the crew on capturing this song.”
Smith joined a voyage with Greenpeace UK on the ship the Arctic Sunrise to learn more about the importance of ocean protection. The location in the Sargasso Sea was chosen because scientists have long recognised it as an area rich in marine life that needs greater protection from industrial fishing, shipping and other threats.
Dan Smith, Bastille playing guitar on board the Arctic Sunrise. Credit: PRESS
The musician spent three days onboard and took part in scientific research, helped spot humpback whales, and deployed an underwater microphone to pick up the sounds of whales, dolphins and other sea creatures. He also assisted with taking seawater samples from 30m below the surface to test for the DNA traces of marine animals and took part in a beach clean on Cooper’s Island in Bermuda.
Fiona Nicholls, an Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, added: “Dan performed this song of hope and resilience amid the bright blue waters of the Sargasso Sea – waters that are being heated by a changing climate and depleted by industrial fishing.”
She continued: “His performance sums up our optimism that protecting our blue planet is possible with the help of the Global Ocean Treaty. This historic agreement was years in the making – before the end of this year our incoming government needs to sign it into UK law to kickstart ocean protection on a global scale. As the song goes… it’s about damn time.”
Dan Smith, Bastille on a rhib in front of the Arctic Sunrise with a Protect the Oceans banner. Credit: Press
Smith previously supported the launch of an open letter to the next UK government calling on them to lock into law the Global Ocean Treaty that world governments agreed at the UN last year, and to propose the Sargasso Sea as the first ocean sanctuary under that Treaty.
“Like so many of us, I’m really worried about climate change and massively keen to know how I can be useful,” Smith shared. “It’s been so interesting to learn that the oceans are one of our best defences against climate change, and I wanted to bring people along on this amazing adventure that I’ve been lucky enough to be part of.”
He continued: “Anyone and everyone can sign Greenpeace’s open letter to the next government, which calls on them to take the Global Ocean Treaty through our Parliament and commit it into law by the end of this year. It’s something positive that can easily happen, and will genuinely have a positive impact. It’ll only take a minute to help by signing this letter, which I think is brilliant for people who are looking for ways to be proactive.”
In other news, Bastille were one of many bands who have read out letters from Palestinians suffering in Gaza as part of a ‘Voices For Gaza’ initiative.
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