Intimacy

After Radiohead, NiN, David Byrne & Brian Eno (oops I forget the Raconteurs), Bloc Party decided at the beginning of this week to release their 3rd album through the web (this Thursday). The physical release of "Intimacy" will be on October.

This new example of distribution is fanstatic. By announcing so abruptly this release, Bloc Party wanted to adapt the new era of Information, the feeling that you could have in the old system of physical record shop (waiting months and be the first in front of the record shop to buy your cd). Now with ICT and instant web access to create momentum and crazyness (nowadays through big discussion on blogs, forum), you should take your fans by surprise!

I must admit that my latest good feeling by buying music was Radiohead, Byrne & Eno and Bloc Party. Before waiting was key to raise fan's fever, now surprise & urgency are the key! (it works clearly on me). The way of distributing music and spreading the information have changed some bands have realised that, and it should be further investigated, not in the economical sense but more through the fans' feeling and community.

Bloc party's first album - Silent Alarm - was really a big surprise for me, fresh, exciting, terrific sounds, one of the best albums of the decade. their second effort was produced by Jacknife Lee and I should admit that I really hate his production (e.g: The Killers). the sound is only for big stadium and radio, without rage and tense feeling (P. Epworth succeeded for the first effort). So I was a bit disappointed with "A week end in the city"

what about the album?

a very good surprise! the first part of the album is a real success. we can observe the evolution in the sound, they succeed to integrate electronic sounds in a smatter way than in a weekend in the city. Ares and Mercury are really 2 bombtracks. the sound is sharp, smart and dancing. Halo is an easy heroic piece of music but it succeeds to appeal the body.

On biko, the smooth electronic sounds give strength to a simple song which is the key issue with this kind of sounds. Trojan Horse is an explosion with a perfect kele's voice, complexity of the track will be enormous in gig.

Zephyrus is for me the big surprise of this album. I can't find the word because it is simply a beautiful song. simple, sad background, strong emotional voice.

"Better than heaven sounds" starts like a depeche mode track but with more tempos due to the voice of Kele and finishes in an explosion.

this album is not really a revolution but shows that bloc party is a great band with a lot of potential. it is a long time that a UK band really succeed in integrating electronic sounds in pop music without using "fat beat" and exhausted acid sounds.

As said by a band member at the BBC:
"It isn't really experimental, it's still pop music," he said. "The goal was to make music which sounded good on the dance floor or stuff that would make people want to move as opposed to something that you want to sit down and immerse yourself in.

"We tried make something that was up and just tried to make some unconventional sounds rather than necessarily experiment with ideas about form."

and they succeed.