- Artists:
- Bloc Party »
- Label:
- Wichita »
Pumping out a new album barely 18 months since the, to these ears at least, slight wrong-turn of A Weekend In The City (DiS’s Mike Diver awarded the album a perhaps overly enthusiastic 9/10), suggests one of two things about Bloc Party’s third LP, Intimacy: either it’s warmed-up leftovers, a la Radiohead’s Amnesiac (I don’t care what the fanboys say, just listen to the two versions of ‘Morning Bell’ and tell me the latter isn’t a hideous mistake that should have been left unheard), or the London band is trying to atone for relative errors that have damaged their egos, if not quite their fanbase.
I’ll mention Radiohead again, as Kele Okereke and company have sprung this album on us with a lack of preparation time that makes the epochal release strategy of In Rainbows look like Chinese Democracy’s marketing campaign. Two days’ notice, and bam. Come October there’ll be a full, physical release, with more tracks and full artwork, but for now the ten tracks available for download via Bloc Party’s official website will suffice.
So let’s take the second scenario regarding Intimacy’s accelerated gestation. A Weekend In The City attempted to experiment by drafting a couple of minutes of cut-up microhouse, radionoise, or dubstep onto otherwise standard Bloc Party songs, and then attempted to mature by throwing all the ballads at the second half of the record and stripping them of the thrilling juxtapositional rhythmic surge that made ‘So Here We Are’ and ‘This Modern Love’ sound like the best things ever at the start of 2005, in the process making them sound closer to Coldplay than anything from debut album Silent Alarm. Intimacy has to repair both those errors.
And it starts promisingly. ‘Ares’ mashes up ‘Setting Sun’ by The Chemical Brothers with guitars that sound like Public Enemy’s most startling sirens, and a melodic framework ripped-off from a schoolyard “Thumb-War” _chant. The cyclonal drum pattern that dominates the song is going on 40 years old now, but there’s always scope for going back to The Beatles if what’s dredged up still sounds radical, alive, _alarming.
‘Mercury’ may have a nonsensical chorus and some kind of freaky anti-melody, but the arrangement, though messy, points at an attempt to do something far beyond the likes of, say, Editors’ comprehension. It reminds me of parts of Kid A (there’s that band again), though it doesn’t sound much like that record; there’s an ambition and intent there, a desire to bring something original and strange to a wider audience that is admirable even if slightly wrongheaded in execution. There are more ways to be experimental as an ‘indie band’ than merely busting out the computer and the crazy rhythms.
Lyrically there are missteps, and the most vocal critics of Weekend… will be presented with opportunities to pick holes once more: the farcical line about taking a watch off before making love that opens ‘Trojan Horse’ is enough to make anyone squirm, and the cod-scientific / profound song titles belie the otherwise pretty base lyrical topics on offer, namely getting wasted, falling in love, and having sex. But, more positively, Okereke is writing at a level that qualifies as ‘universal’ throughout Intimacy – there’s no reference, oblique or otherwise, to eating foie gras, one of a smattering of seemingly widely acknowledged lyrical faux pas on the band’s previous album.
‘Halo’ successfully rocks like ‘Banquet’ and ‘Helicopter’ used to – there is much here to please Silent Alarm purists – and ‘Signs’ and ‘Biko’ achieve the album’s titular mood through genuine sonic delicacy, even if the band can’t resist cranking out the Aphex Twin-inspired beats for the latter’s second half. ‘Zepherus’ does something genuinely beautiful with choirs, synths and beats (it’s as if Baz Luhrmann requested a re-write of _Weekend…’s ‘Song For Clay’ – Ed), and though the lyrics aren’t above criticism, the juxtapositions of slashing guitars and scrambling electronics on ‘Trojan Horse’_ work much better than anything on Weekend... managed.
Also, thankfully, Okereke seems to have shied away from any desire or prompting to centre-stage his vocals through close-mic’ing and über-compressing them until they swallow the whole mix. When Bloc Party toured their last album it became quickly apparent that their frontman wasn’t up to the vocal push in a live environment. But I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that people don’t listen to a Bloc Party record for the vocals in the way they might listen to, say, Leona Lewis.
Perhaps penultimate track ‘Better Than Heaven’ encapsulates what Bloc Party have been attempting to do for their last two records, namely aligning all their different directional desires: to swoon, to rock, and to experiment all at once. Intimacy gets pretty close to achieving that ultimate goal, and while there’s nothing (yet) as potent as ‘So Here We Are’ or ‘Positive Tension’ seemed at the beginning of this band’s career, there’s also nothing as miscalculated as Weekend…’s anti-climax closer, ‘SRXT’’.
Intimacy is not quite the radical statement its makers might think it is (I’m not sure what could be given the group’s evident ambitions), but it’s definitely a little bit of invigorating redemption at a time when doubts were beginning to cloud what was, initially, a flawless reputation.
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Bloc Party
oh
how non controversial.
I they delete Mercury
,immolate it, destroy the hard copy, claim it was by the petshop boys, dissociate themselves from it completely, forever....i reckon the album's a 7 1/2.
With it, barely a 3.
i actually thought
the 'watch' line in Trojan Horse was lovely. Maybe im just a bit simple.
See
What you mean is, if you delete all traces of the mess that is "Ares" then it's an 8, as it is, a 6.
What
?
huh,
did i miss the memo where reviews had to be controversial? i thought they were intended more of a guide to help people buy records. how old-fashioned of me
..
"(DiS’s Mike Diver awarded the album a perhaps overly enthusiastic 9/10)"
Ah, nothing like undermining a departing editor eh?
I agree with the reviewer on that line
It is truly awful and cringeworthy and it puts me off the entire song whenever I listen to it.
Mercury >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ares.
And I don't like Mercury.
7/10 is right on the money, the rest of the tracks are easily worth 8/9.
What?
Mercury wants to be 'Everything In Its Right Place' so bad it hurts. How can you say it doesn't sound like Radiohead?
I can understand why Mike gave AWITC a 9. On first listen, it sounded amazing. It's only with time that it sounds a bit of a mis-step. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I would say this is an 8, bordering on a 9. It really is very good.
Just not 'Silent Alarm' good.
I like it
but like all the "romantic" lines in weekend. (not the political ones so much though...)
...
Actually it was Mike himself who subbed that line in. Different people in different opinions SHOCKAH.
Meh,
seven is a pretty reasonable score, I'd be tempted to give it an 8, but yeah seven is good.
I think you've maybe focused to much on comparing it to there other records.
Good review
aside from the very wrong comment about Amnesiac by Radiohead? Warmed-up leftovers?
I agree with it being about a 7
Its ok but a bit to hit and miss.
Maybe the CD with extra tracks will make the album flow better and have some nice moments.
I don't see any controversy in this review
which bit are you on about?
ahh changed my mind its a 6
for sure...
well, kinda like warmed up left overs
from one of the best meals ever, but leftovers they still are
what songs do you consider hit and miss?
I hate ares and mercury but am really enjoying the other 8.
off the top of my head
miss: Ares, Murcery, One Month Off,
hit: Signs, Zephyrus, Ion Square
the rest I either can't remember or are in the middle...
I have deleated it now, I will make a better judgment after hearin the full album on CD no doubt.
Pah
Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong, Like Spinning Plates, Life in a Glasshouse - that's a four course meal right now. Take out Hunting Bears and Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors and it's a really great album
yeah sounds right
those three hits are the best on the album.
Quite like Trojan horse, mainly for the second half which is quite great.
I have my doubts
but hopefully the extra tracks will add more to the album.
I'd like it to be pushed up to an 8 but it is a 7 for now.
I have pretty much
the same opinion
I'd give it 7/10
yeah
I have my fingers crossed that they bring out some tastey tracks on the CD.
ahhh right
heheh
silly me...
RE: Pah
Even with Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors, it's ace. Amnesiac doesn't get the praise it deserves.
4 days?!
The record is out for only 4 days and there's already a review for it? Damn it... I hope you give other albums more time. I'm kinda shocked.
Hmmm...
Various newspaper websites liveblogged reviews of In Rainbows. 4 days is plenty of time for a review; given turnaround at some magazines and papers between promos going out and copy being due, it's actually quite generous.
whats wrong with pet shop boys ?
they wrote hundred times better songs than bloc party.
I don't like the full stop
after 'Block Party' on the album cover.
I quite like that bit
adds a dramatic pause in the reading of the title...
hehe
In four days
I have played it in full six times.
Plenty enough for a review.
Judging by what Nick has written here I'd say he's given it a similar amount of time.
FYI: many music reviewers (albums) get 48-72 hours to turn an album review around. So four days = probably above average.
He's not trying to show how elevated he is or summat...
"Okereke is writing at a level that qualifies as ‘universal’ throughout Intimacy – there’s no reference, oblique or otherwise, to eating foie gras..."
'Song for clay' is a song based on a book called less than zero whos protagonist is called Clay. its a song in honour of him. its specific to one american character in a book set in the 80s.
hunting bears
is fucking brilliant
'oblique or otherwise'
...hence this. Perhaps 'abstract' would have served better. I dunno. Verbiage spew.
FYI: I actually rephrased what was originally written here, slightly, knowing full well the Less Than Zero connection; I'm not sure it was clear previously. I wanted readers to at least get the suggestion that Kele probably doesn't eat foie gras, with or without complete disdain, etc. Although it seems I've failed.
Original wording, pre-subbing (wow, an insight into DiS's internal mechanics!):
"But at least there are no clangers about feeling disgusted with yourself for eating pate de fois gras in a posh London restaurant."
Nick, hope you don't mind me pasting that in there.
Ta,
M
...
Richard Ashcroft repeatedly nicks lyrics from William Blake; doesn't mean he's in the same literary league. I hadn't noticed the Righteous Brothers paraphrase until now because it's so clumsy and squirm-inducing as to make one not want to think about where it might have come from.
But yes, regardless, this is a good album. Their best? Ask me again in nine months.
This
for the longest time I liked it more than Kid A.
Now I'm just undecided.
Fois gras is damn nice
just thought I would throw that out there...
six times :D
You think listening to an album "6 times" is enough for an album?
Oh dear. I really have to stop reading these reviews.
..
should be 'for a review'
I'd give this an 8.
A definite return to form. Even Mercury has grown on me lots.
I'd give this an 8.
A definite return to form. Even Mercury has grown on me lots.
How many times then?
8
10
12
24
86?
Is it really quantifiable, or does it largely depend on the album?
pretty much all reviews ever
are done in a short time span as they are done before the release of the albums or soon after they are out as thats when the interest is.
What do you want people to do just randomly review albums from the last 20 years.
They are giving an insite in to the music and giving an opinion, you are sounding like you want a reviewer to make up your mind for ya or somthing...
Once and for all
A Weekend In The City WAS a 9/10 album. Because I said so.
am i to understand
you reckon the live version of Morning Bell from i might be wrong is a hideous mistake?
if so, as requested, I tell you the following: "the latter isn’t a hideous mistake that should have been left unheard."
If not, what is this latter version of which you speak?
blind faith
in a band is no substitute for independent thinking.
Acolytes
Your zealotism about Bloc Party is scary, man. You don't agree with someone's opinion, fair enough but seriously, to question the man's ability to write is a little angsty.
The review accounts for itself well and while, in my view, the objective points sounds more like those of a 6/10 album Each To His Own, Eh?.
Asking Mike Driver to come back won't automatically make Intimacy a 9/10 record.
_
...
I reviewed AWITC for Stylus and there was nothing in the press release about Less Than Zero. I also recall nothing in any interviews with Kele mentioning it. I've also, being a music writer and not a literary critic, never read the book in question, which is also hardly canonical. So if I'm supposed to know as much about where Kele nicks his lyrics from as a devout BP fanboy, I apologise; I have no interest in that level of minutiae, and neither do the vast majority of people who are likely to read this review, I'd wager.
Mike; no problem at all with that; just don't put up the homoerotic slash fiction paragraph about Kele and Patrick Wolf, OK?
...
It's still hardly Scott Walker, but this album sounds much better to my ears than AWITC did. MUCH better.
This.
Not heard the I Might Be Wrong version, but the Amnesiac version is foul. The vocal mixing is horrific.
Numbers
It's an eight bordering on a nine but it's not 'Silent Alarm' good? Are you still using relative scoring here, where all music is being rated out of the same '10'? So, I take it, Silent Alarm was a 10/10; an album so good there was no way to top it?
_
Also...
...the song also references another Bret Easton Ellis novel: Glamorama, in which the words "disappear here" serve a central purpose to the plot.
...
I think you're missing the point of what a review is; it's just an initial opinion, an impression really, and it can't actually be anything else. If you want in-depth exegesis of something, then you need writing that's the result of a long-term relationship with a record, which just isn't possible with the way records are released and the way the music press (hell, the whole of the cultural press and every relevant product from film to literature to ballet) works. You're after 33 1/3 books. We need years to do those.
And yes, knowing that I might change my mind on this review is frustrating, knowing that there are limits to this process is disheartening; it's something I've struggled with and written about - "what if my affection / antipathy changes? what if I love / hate this in another three months?" One can't go back and rewrite a review later on when you've changed your mind, so one just has to accept that one is being honest RIGHT NOW, that this review is how I feel about this record today (or Sunday night when I wrote it).
We're not trying to deceive anyone here; we're just being as honest as we can with the facilities available to us.
I'm waiting until October
but at least the early signs are that it should be better than their last effort.
I needed to believe
(sorry)
Harsh?
I think you're being a bit harsh on 'A Weekend In The City' and looking at their Reading/Leeds performances on the tellybox this weekend, you could see how integral a part of the back catalogue songs like 'Hunting For Witches', 'The Prayer' and 'On' have already become.
Only had a couple of chances to listen to 'Intimacy' so far, but 'Halo' jumps out as the standout track... next single, I expect.
I needed to believe
(sorry)
isn't hunting for witches
just a very average revisitng of banquet?
^^^^whoouuuaaa thanks^
Very constructive!! What eloquence....
'Personal' means personal.
I really like the way AWITC divides opinion. It's clear the reviewer here was not at all as impressed by it as they felt their colleague had been. I read Pitchfork's review of that album too and the criticisms seemed quite similar. It seems a lot of people felt the latter half of the album was poor if not pedestrian. Well I respect that opinion but I'm sorry, it was those songs (from Kreuzberg) which provided me an access point to the album which eventually enabled me to love it from start to finish. Sunday just blew me away - I'm sorry to say that, but it's still arguably my favourite track on the album. And SRXT is 'anti-climatic'?!! What? I'm sorry but I'm truely puzzled - what is anti-claimatic about it. It finishes with a such a crescendo of emotion and a simple final line that leaves me moved everytime I listen to it.
But as I say, the fun thing about AWITC is that it seems to court debate which is a good thing. Who wants music that stimulates the same response in everyone who listens to it? Isn't that supposed to be pop music's virtue, not indie.
I have been listening to Intimacy at least two times a day since it's release and it's growing on me with each listen. I like different songs each time I come back to it which is a good sign.
As for Okereke's lyrics I am uncertain as to what one can say. They're not amazing, very subtle, or spell-bindingly poetic in nature but I have come to find them quite personal. They're certainly honest I think and perhaps the most refreshing thing in a meduim which involves hiding your meaning, is just advertise it. The line about taking your watch off seems contrived but perhaps it isn't to Okereke nor to a thousand other people. To them it might be a part of a foolish but tender memory they have. Love is a really foolish and silly thing in a way so I kind of like it when romantic songs appear that way instead of grand full of wothiness.
I still say it's a good album. Not sure whether it's a great one but I'm gonna hold out on making that decision for a while.
Ha ha...
Sure.
please please please let this truly be a return to form
i dont like the staggered releases though.
on first listen i was loving it
now im leaning towards an 8 or 7. for the record i don't mind that watch line either, in fact trojan horse is possibly the highlight for me so far. not sure if it's great. i was warming to mercury until i saw the reading performance.
As for WITC for me it has some great songs but as an album leaves me a bit cold, don't think i've listened to it all the way through. it gets a bit too serious and preachy for its own good around Uniform/Where is Home. i am listening to SRXT now however and it is very nice.
SRXT
Is a Muse song, without the humour or songwriting delicacy that Muse are famed for.
Ares
listening to it now and it's truly abysmal...however, the rest is pretty tasty
Those who don't like Mercury
Should listen to the CSS remix..I don't mind the original, but CSS have made the song much easier to like
Muse vanish up their black holes. No revelation.
I'm sorry but I really don't know how anyone could type this while maintaining a straight face. Have you listened to any of Muse's recent material? They sound like they're a poor copycat of their former selves. Now as for meaning - Muse are easily the complete opposite of Okereke's lyrics. Where as he is at times childishly honest about his feelings and opinions, Muse are more than likely to vanish up their backsides. The effect should quite simply defy physics.
But let's be fair, not everyone needs to agree about music - except where Muse are concerned. On that issue it is quite simply a measure of character.
I really like the first two tracks...
and the whole record. A vast improvement on its predecessor. 8/10 from me so far - not many albums make me listen 10 or so times in the first week of owning them. Hooray! Let's just celebrate that they are back back back!
it
should have been after the block surely?
Bloc. Party Intimacy.
;-p
I don't know
if I'd say it's an improvement on AWITC. I felt the personal connection with that LP that I didn't particularly get with Silent Alarm. I do think Intimacy is a particularly focused album though which I like. I think it's a solid 8 for me, although time will tell with this one - I think I might have a different attitude to it in a few months.
I think Bloc Party have perfected the "tender" moments on this album, an area that I've found them a little lacking - lyrically at least - on previous efforts. "Signs" is excellent. "Halo" and "Trojan Horse" are classic Bloc Party, although the synth line in the latter reminds me of Pendulum a bit. Not so good.
Still, I was a little worried about this album after "Mercury" - not that I hated it, but it sounded a little forced. Progression for the sake of progression. On the whole though, I'm very pleased with it so far, the only tracks I'm not so keen on are "Mercury" and "One Month Off".
...
That Muse lack delicacy and humour was kind of my point, there.
you're right
Listening to the pet shops boys recently made me appreciate them more. Problem is, my dad liked me.
Another reason to like them is they are openly gay, unlike the repressed singer from Bloc Party.
Ahem....
God that typo made it seem like I was from Middlesbrough. I meant to say 'my dad liked THEM'
Assessment
Silent Alarm: 9.5 (it has a weakness - the album version of She's Hearing Voices is terrible compared to the EP version).
AWITC: 9
Intimacy: 8
Another Weekend In The City: 7
Bloc Party (EP): 9
Little Thoughts (EP): 9 (Skeleton - still one of the best songs Bloc Party has ever done).
Two More Years (EP): 8
By the way, the B-side to Mercury, 'An Idea For A Story' is a very good track indeed.
I've always found the Amnesiac version
to be much more dramatic and haunting. I actually prefer it to the Kid A track, if only marginally.
Overrated
Silent Alarm: 4
AWITC: 7
Intimacy: 4
Bloc Party are now appalling and people need to realise how bad silent alarm really is. Mercury is one of the worst songs I've ever heard and Trogan Horse is rubbish as well.
^
I couldn't disagree with a post more
NOT THAT ONE!
the one above with the scores and shit opinions and shit.
Hey Nick
Ignore the whiners. As someone who's not heard "Intimacy" but is looking for an assessment of it, I reckon your review does what it needs to do.
You situate your take on the album in terms of your take on the preceding albums, which allows me to work out pretty quickly whether we're on the same page regarding their respective value (we are); you treat the music (not just the lyrics) as something that can be reflected on and talked about independently of whether you like it or not; and (most significantly, to my mind) you offer a way of making sense of the album in terms not just of how it sounds but also of what it DOES.
On listening to the album I may end up thinking it's a piece of shit or I might decide it's a masterpiece, but either way I won't be thinking that your review is "wrong" for the simple reason that it's the description that counts, and -- having just finished listening to three tracks from it -- your description seems more or less apt.
So, cheers.
rob
hmm
1. Morning Bell off Amnesiac was well better, I can barely listen to the other one
2. AWITC was frigging dire. Of the two best songs off it, one contained the line "East London is a vampire", and the other was like a slightly better Snow Patrol. Think about that.
3. This sounds to me like an "eh" review to me. An album which'll sound good for about two weeks. I've heard Mercury, and it sounds "eh". Wake me up when they do another song like Positive Tension.
were you on e when you wrote this ^ ?
groundbreaking? hardly. pushing the electronica envelope? ten years too late for that. & flux was utter shite; it sounded to me much like a madonna "i'm 50 yrs old but can still mutate with the sound of the day so i'm going to get some electronica producers to make me some music" chameleon.
a great album? perhaps. it's definetely better than awitc (which still had its moments). it's obviously a solid album. but this whole embracing of the electronica culture? come on.....
what you on about
'without idle prejudices'?
the guy called everyone 'fags' and was the only peron bringing sex into the conversation. That seems pretty idle and prejudice to me...
yeah but you think radiohead suck
so shut the fuck up.
finally
listened to this- first couple times around a bit cold, but it's growing on me.
I'm still amazed how Bloc Party's albums seem to mirror the tone of my life though.. is Kele secretly stalking me or what?
OMG you said Radiohead sucked!
that's bang out of order.
I could probably sue you, for being wrong.
I'm so angry.
You personally ABUSED me with that comment.
hehe
cool
this post came
just in time
zealotism = zeal
that is all
Not a bad review but...
for me the main problem with the album is the utter predictability of Kele's melodies. He's recycled the same parts so many times now that every time he gets to the end of a line you already know where he's gonna go with the tune (that is, when he's not yelping tunelessly over the top of the music).
They've clearly made a real effort to keep things interesting production-wise, but what's the point when - with the notable exception of Hunting For Witches - there hasn't been a single memorable chorus since the first record? The production saves a bunch of mediocre songs, when it should be elevating great ones.
Silent Alarm: 9
AWITC: 6
Intimacy: 7 at best
I kind of agree with your comment about Kele's melodies
It's fortunate I like them such a great deal.
I still love "A Weekend In The City" though. Very much.
i have no hopes for this
first album good, second album embarassingly awful. why was flux so good when they cant string two songs together?
i'll probably check it out before too long anyway... just to confirm my disappointment.
what's a
"thrilling juxtapositional rhythmic surge" then?
i cant believe
that i read all the arguements / shit analysis of each album.
sa: 9/10
awitc: 8/10
i: 4/10
imo. i dont believe they should do silent alarm 2, but then significantly changing their sound to avoid critisms (about lack of progression) warrants criticism, which is what looks theyve done
"what's a
"thrilling juxtapositional rhythmic surge" then?"
Listen to the changes at 1:55 and then at 2:50 in "Always New Depths" and you'll find an answer to your question.
Haha.
Absolute genius.
i really enjoyed this
much more than either of the previous albums ( although i do like silent alarm a LOT)
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DiS joins the Music Alliance Pact + May 2013's global MAP compilation
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