Bloc Party are a multi talented British indie rock band formed in ‘’99. In their career they’ve been nominated for thirteen awards, including NME Awards ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Best British Band’, ‘Best Alternative Act’ at the MTV EU Music Awards, ‘New Artist of the Year’ at the PLUG Awards. There debut album Silent Alarm was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won NME Award for ‘Best Album.’
Following a long dry spell, the band finally released, their fifth studio album January 29th, Hymns making it the first album to include new keyboard/bassist (Justin Harris) and drums (Louise Bartle). The album has a more electronic focus then their last album, rock Four (2012). After experimenting with electronica in Intimacy (2008), the album Hymns has been met with generally mixed reviews.
In all, Hymns is an up-beat dance album compared to Silent Alarm, which was a little more rattling, guitar-heavy punk. Hymns is well placed with singles like “The Love Within” which is an ascending, poppy dance track, sounding a bit like Awol Nation, Foals and Muse with lyrics like “Don’t you want to get high?”. “Virtue,” boasts very forward vocals by the band’s front man Kele Okereke, and is a rhythmic, synthesized alternative dance track with a slightly retro 80’s style. Although, the band’s Manchester inspirations do remain evident, as always, along the album with lyrics that are generally political with reference to current events, including religious references in The Good News.
Check out Block Party here, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Soundcloud.
Or see them live on one of Bloc Party’s tour dates
