Bloc Party - Intimacy

When first released, Silent Alarm not only stood out from the crowd of regionally accented bands coming out of the South East but also opened the flood gates with a plethora of copy cat bands rushing through. The CD didn’t leave my stereo for a very long time, however the same could not be said for A Weekend in the City, the bands second album release, which was bland with peaks of brilliance (Hunting for Witches, The Prayer). Because of this, I approached their third offering with a smattering of apprehension, worrying that yet again they would reproduce another wishy-washy product. I could not have been more wrong. The opening track, Ares, sounds like Bloc Party on crack and basically sets the tone for the whole album; all the raw edginess of Silent Alarm, which demanded your attention all those years ago (it came out in 2004 but it seems like a life time ago no?) but with a phsycodelic, prog-rock, electronic mish-mash of studio wizardry and vocal weirdness. I can almost hear the cries of “they just want to be Radiohead”, but this argument is highly disrespectful to an album that truly carves its own niche. Intimacy is everything that the stagnant Indie scene needed. I am still unable to get over the richness of Mercury and tracks like Biko and Signs offer the perfect respite from what can be quite a demanding listen, with both tracks offering subtle yet glowing pieces of music which singer Kele Okereke does well to flatter. Zepherus hangs in the balance between a dodgy R n’ B track and shocking brilliance but it pulls it off. My biggest gripe is that that on some occasions I find my self cringing at the lyric placement; its almost as if they don’t quite fit. That said, this is a truly mature offering with plenty of depth for continued listening and is well worth your dollar.