Bastille Captures Glimpses of a Better Tomorrow in ‘Hope For The Future’ Video for ‘From Devil’s Breath’ Doc
Bastille has hope that there are better days to come. In the newly released music video for “Hope For The Future,” written for the forthcoming MSNBC documentary From Devil’s Breath, the British band narrates the colliding stories of survivors and activists coming to terms with the immediate and future aftermath of the deadly wildfires that blazed through Portugal in 2017.
“Thought that I could hear you whisper softly/Can’t be only me that hears the sound,” frontman Dan Smith sings on the bridge, highlighting the strength of a collective of voices in a sea of uncertainty. “But it’s the ones in charge who write the history/Each time.”
From Devil’s Breath was helmed by filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. As the second film in Trevor Noah’s The Turning Point series, the documentary roots itself in the increasingly urgent awareness being raised in the midst of the climate emergency ravishing the planet. Carrying the messaging of “Hope For The Future,” the emphasis remains on preventative measures that can be implemented in order to ensure that there’s something left to save and fight for before it’s too late.
“I’ve been lucky enough that the documentaries are produced and directed by some of the most amazing people,” Noah shared. “For instance, Leonardo DiCaprio produces one of the documentaries that looks at climate change and how it ties people’s lives together. For instance, the wildfires in Portugal, how people’s lives were destroyed, how they found each other, but then also how it ties into a larger narrative of how people move around the earth and why they move around the earth.”
He added: “A lot of the time, everything is associated with blame, and I think, sometimes, if we have a conversation about what is, without looking at who you want to or not want to blame, you can just have a discussion around the why, and then you can go from there.”
“Hope For The Future” appeared on the expanded edition of Bastille’s latest album, Give Me The Future + Dreams Of The Past, but the band’s discography has long been shaped by songs ruminating on world events. Their 2016 sophomore record Wild World featured commentary that eerily proceeded the turmoil of American politics that would follow in the months after its release, while their third album, Doom Days, packaged emotional chaos into curious examinations of the human condition in a social media age.