London's Bloc Party Gets Personal With "Intimacy"

By Broadside Asst. Style Editor Pearson Jones

Bloc Party gave little warning to fans that they would be releasing a follow up to 2007’s A Weekend in the City in August. Lead vocalist Kele Okereke and the rest of Bloc Party announced through a web chat on Aug. 18 that their new LP Intimacy would be following a similar digital release format as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. The only difference would be that Bloc Party would be slapping a price tag on their digital release, despite the popular trend of allowing downloaders to name their own price. The rush release date of the album was scheduled for Aug. 20, while a physical copy was released later into stores on Oct. 25. Those who were even aware of the release could go download the full album off the bands website for $10.

At Times, Intimacy sounds like the remains from A Weekend in the City. They both have the catchy hooks, electrifying riffs and pulse-pumping beats that will keep you hitting repeat. But Intimacy clearly has a unique feel that digresses from the sound of Silent Alarm that made Bloc Party’s rise to fame an easy one. It’s a move that has allowed Bloc Party to produce one of its most diverse albums yet.

The album starts of with the eerie resonating intro notes of the first track “Ares,” which is then followed by a mash up of synthesized sounds backed by a rapid drumbeat with a fluctuating delayed guitar riff. Okereke’s definition of dance rock genre has drastically changed since Silent Alarm. Bloc Party has crammed so many different elements into Intimacy that the sound just explodes out from beginning to end. Okereke has strayed away from the sounds of other modern dance rock bands like Franz Ferdinand, and instead, has opted to resonate with a sound more like The Chemical Brothers mixed with Blur.

This album's direction is a lot darker and faster than anything Silent Alarm had to offer. Okereke’s voice is the only thing that remains the same. His voice flows effortlessly over the tracks. The chaotic sounds of tracks like “Trojan Horse” and “Mercury” are complimented well by Okereke’s high-pitched wailing. Lyrically, this album is as intimate as the title suggests. “Paralyze me with your kiss, wipe those dirty hands on me. Maybe we’re looking for the same thing, maybe you’re the one who will complete me,” sings Okereke. Intimacy is basically a break-up album with the same cliché “I miss you” lyrics that most break-up albums have.

“Mercury,” Intimacy’s first single that debuted as a teaser weeks before the rest of album was revealed, is definitely the one song that truly defines the new direction and image Intimacy is trying to convey. The simple, one-phrase repetitive chorus, “my mercury is in retrograde,” appears to be un-original and dull, but the words dub over the beat of the track perfectly. “Mercury” starts off simple, with Okereke belting out the chorus with his voice being remixed to sound similar to a record being scratched on a turntable. The whole song builds up into a finale of synthesizers and horn blasts that will make you question who really is behind the helm of Bloc Party now, because this is nothing like what we have seen from Okereke before.

It takes a couple of times to get through Intimacy to fully appreciate what Bloc Party is trying to do. The mesh of dance rock riffs and club derived beats become infectious after awhile, just give it a chance.