Following on from news that the British indie mavericks were working on new material, Bloc Party have now confirmed that they’ve finished their new record.
The band’s fourth studio album is simply titled Four and frontman Kele Okereke reckons “it is the best thing that we have ever done.”
Writing on his blog, I Am Kele, this morning, the singer wrote a lengthy post about their new LP, due in August. Writing “this record is the sound of four people in a room, loving what they do and doing it to the best of their ability. It is the sound that only the four of us could make and I am prouder of it than any record we have ever made.”
Four will be the quartet’s first record in four years, since 2008’s Intimacy, following an extended hiatus that saw Kele pursuing a solo career, including an album (The Boxer) an EP (The Hunter) and extensive touring. Meanwhile the downtime allowed Gordon Moakes, bassist, to become a father, guitarist Russell Lissack to join the touring lineup for Irish rockers Ash, while drummer Matt Tong built a home studio in his basement.
The extended break led to a prank, which the band themselves started, in which they claimed Okereke had been booted from the band; which Okereke’s post calls “a lie that got out of hand,” but that it also “brought us closer together.”
The singer also admits that “there was a big question mark over whether Bloc Party were ever going to make another record again. We were exhausted and bored and distant from one another.”
Following a minor epiphany involving Led Zeppelin’s IV, writing a novel and “the most dramatic year I have experienced in my life”, Okereke and his bandmates decamped to New York with producer Alex Newport (whose CV includes Death Cab For Cutie, City and Colour and The Mars Volta) to complete their album.
Australians will no doubt get a chance to hear new cuts from Four before its August 20th release date, when Bloc Party play Splendour In The Grass this July. The UK quartet are playing exclusively at the Byron Bay-based festival (no sideshows!), so you’d better take advantage of Splendour’s resale ticketing options.
Bloc Party’s latest album teaser is available for your viewing pleasure below:
