October 27th, 2008 | London
Kele Okereke, lead singer of Bloc Party, recently claimed: "Our music was never designed with love-making in mind." Has he forgotten what a romantic guy he really is? After all, many of his songs thoroughly deal with the subject, especially on their new album Intimacy.
Emerging from the failed success of sophomore effort A Weekend In The City (an impossible follow-up to their incomparable debut Silent Alarm), this new album actually benefited from recent criticism and low expectations. Once again, Bloc Party has come from seemingly nowhere to blow away the competition and awe fans. After releasing "Flux," an odd single between albums, Bloc Party showed an alternative direction to their guitar-driven music. With "Flux" they drifted out into space on an electronic keyboard, leaving even their hardcore fans concerned. Fortunately they seem to have only needed that one song to get it out of their system—Intimacy may be more electronic than previous outings, but it's no Kid A.
Of course, like all great albums, this third release takes a while of getting used to. First single, "Mercury," is not a classic radio song, but Okereke's characteristic voice and weirdly cut up chorus eventually grow on you. Intimacy may lack the brutal energy of Silent Alarm's "Helicopter," but many songs, like the the excellent "Talons," slow down the tempo to a welcoming effect. As for the titular intimacy, songs such as "Trojan Horse" deliver it in spades: "You used to take your watch off before we made love. You didn't want to share our time with anyone."
For more information, see wwww.blocparty.com.
—David Hellqvist
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