MULTI-PLATINUM London four-piece Bastille are set to bring their Wild Wild World Tour to the BIC this evening.

But despite their second album becoming an instant chart-topper last month and selling-out tours in a flash, Bastille still live like normal blokes - in fact you’d be hard pushed to recognise them in the street.

Even Dan Smith, the main songwriter, founder and de facto ‘face’ of the band isn’t instantly recognisable.

There’s no denying that hardcore fans would recognise Smith, along with Kyle Simmons, Will Farquarson and Chris Wood, but it’s highly unlikely any van drivers would be beeping their horns on sight, or that any cabbies would be boasting to their next fares about having once had the guitarist from Bastille in the back of their taxi.

“I love it that way,” says guitarist Farquarson.

“I was in a shop buying a jacket only this morning and there was a Bastille song playing.

“The person serving me was singing along, but she had no idea who I was. That was a great moment.

“I very, very rarely get stopped by someone, and by the virtue of being almost unknown, it means that the person stopping is a massive fan of the band and only has nice things to say. Imagine being as famous as someone like Britney Spears, where everyone knows who you are whether they like you or not?”

Considering their success, it’s staggering they’ve managed to keep such a lid on things. Their debut, Bad Blood, was released in 2013 and went on to become the biggest-selling digital album of the year, peaking at No 1 in the UK and going on to become a hit around the world.

Follow-up Wild World, released on September 9, went straight to No 1 in the UK and No 4 in the US. Bastille have sold approaching 10 million records globally, now ranking among the most bankable acts going.

“At any given point, we’ve tried to dodge the fame that comes with the success of what we do. We’ve managed to make it work, and we have to go to award shows and things occasionally, but we don’t have much interest in that showbiz world. I use public transport every day.

“Our lives were very established before the band came along, so we all wanted to keep that going.”

From the off, even when Bastille was just Smith’s solo project, he didn’t seem interested in becoming famous. The avatar he used on the SoundCloud page he posted early songs on was the back of his head.

Watching him now, playing festivals around the world, performing to adoring fans and seemingly basking in the attention, it’s clear how far he in particular has come.

“There have been a few things that have made it easier to put myself out there,” says London-born Smith, 30. “Any job anybody does, there are massive learning curves as they progress. The things that have made it really easy for me are, and this is cheesy, that there are amazing fans coming to our gigs.”

He winces slightly, aware how he might sound, but there is absolutely nothing about Smith to suggest he’s not sincere. Bastille may not be an overly serious bunch but they are genuine, and hugely likeable.

“Getting on a big stage is terrifying, but as soon as everyone sings along, it’s not like a trial, it’s an amazing thing and we’re all in it together, people are on our side,” Smith continues.

He does seem pained to point out they’re a band, and not his fleshed-out solo project.

“We’ve done this together,” he says. “We started off touring in Woody’s car, where I’d be in the boot because the instruments took up the seats.

“We had to borrow a car from our friend’s mum because she had an estate. We were sleeping on floors and all of that. We’ve gone from that to where we are now, with an arena tour ahead of us, with the same crew from the beginning.

“We’ve normalised the most bizarre situation.”

They agree having familiar faces on tour is a key to staying grounded, so no matter how out of control their wild ride has become, they can look around and still feel as if they’re a small band touring in a borrowed estate.

“We feel like competition winners most of the time, but it’s really nice to have friends with us,” says Smith.

Lyrically, there’s more mystery. In an age where exposing your soul is rewarded - just look at Adele’s three world-dominating confessional albums - Smith removes himself from many of Bastille’s songs.

There are stories, or current events used as leaping-off points, but not much candour. Smith says he’s not hiding but writes about things he finds interesting, and just happens to be someone that “isn’t completely self-obsessed”.

Is he actively keeping himself out of the songs?

“To a certain extent,” he says, sounding defensive. “Some songs are very personal, but I choose not to put myself in there, and I try to present interesting scenes or convey a mood.”

He says the first album surprised him, as when he was writing, he didn’t want it to be all about what it’s like trying to become an adult - but, in hindsight, realises now that’s exactly what it is.

“This time around, I wrote about how it feels to be watching the news and be knocked sideways and overwhelmed. There’s plenty of that this year. As a person, you can feel confused. How do you process the news at the moment? Equally, it seems even more extreme than it is because it’s all piled high on top of everything else.”

There’s a song on the album, The Currents, which is aimed squarely at the likes of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.

Another song, Warped, is about that feeling of not knowing how to react to horrific news events, feeling lost and looking for a person to be your crutch when you need support (“That is in itself a personal thing, just not with me at the centre of it”), while The Stakes is about the temptation to drink to escape the awful things happening around us.

“We had some early feedback on the album from a journalist in Germany, who said, ‘It’s so much more depressing than the first album’,” says Smith. “I didn’t think we could get more depressing than the first, but there we are.

“I suppose I wanted to ground the album in the confusion of the current time, and it obviously worked.”

n Bastille play the BIC tonight.