First Listen: Bloc Party - Intimacy
It's gone 10 o'clock and you still haven't downloaded 'Intimacy' yet?
What are you doing? It's gone 10 o'clock and you still haven't downloaded 'Intimacy' yet? Luckily for you lot we've been sat waiting to download the record since pulling ourselves bleary eyed from our beds, and have cooked up what really is a First Listen feature. Below is what went through our heads on our very first playback; a more complete review will follow once we've had time to live with the record, but if it's excitable scribblings you're looking for - read on.
'Ares'
If you thought 'Mercury' was mad, better strap yourself in. Starting with guitars straight out of The Chemical Brothers' 'Setting Sun', we're soon spiraling into talk of rude boys where quite frankly the odd air horn or two wouldn't be a total surprise. A blissed out middle eight soon gets blown out of the water, but this isn't being different for the sake of it; it's actually catchy enough to have fingers hovering over the skip back button before even hearing the rest of the album.
'Mercury'
Hardly a first listen to this track, but in context of the album it sounds far darker and makes infinitely more sense. The drums and bassline really thumb home when following the siren-like guitar part of 'Ares', so much so you could add an extra mark or two to whatever your initial score for the single came to (we all mark out of ten, yeah? - Ed).
'Halo'
We're heading more towards the traditional realms of Bloc Party here, though with guitars brought even more to the fore. Not a band that you'd easily find yourself thinking 'driving anthem' with, 'Halo' does fairly rattle through. It may not quite be 'Little Thoughts', but there is something infinitely likeable about this one.
'Biko'
The foot firmly comes off the accelerator as shimmering guitars play off a close-to-breaking vocal from Kele. Glitchy drums that sit somewhere between Radiohead and New Order start to emerge around the half way point before being joined by what sounds suspiciously like a church organ. Think of this as an emergency stop before things go a little bit mad all over again.
'Trojan Horse'
A Bloc Party song put through a blender, there may not be much remarkable about 'Trojan Horse', but the range of effects are impressive nonetheless. Guitar parts pixelate (we're being artistic here - Ed) and distort, but on first listen you're considering going back to 'Ares' just to check you didn't dream it.
'Signs'
Plinky plonky plinky plonk. That's the start of 'Signs', and no, that doesn't mean that Chas 'n Dave have popped round for a knees up. An oddly enchanting mix of xylophone and drums produce something markedly different but not unfamiliar, with sweeping, string laden synths bedding the whole thing in.
'One Month Off'
Quick! Run! We're being attacked by a new rave rhythm section! 'One Month Off' is a bit of a shock to the system, literally thumping straight into the side of the head after a serene 'Signs' with drum beats straight from the local amusement arcade. Distorted to the point of buggery, riffs stab their way through the vocals, before the whole thing breaks down (quite literally) and starts again. There's even a key change! Call Westlife (and that's the only place you'll see that reference - Ed)!
'Zephyrus'
Vocals as instruments ahoy. That old Bjork trick mixed with some suitably unpredictable beats gives yet another change of pace before a fully blown choir comes in and everything goes up a gear. On first listen it's hard to gauge if the move actually comes off or not, but the rich, epic tones mixed with the sparse, clean beginnings are at the very least interesting.
'Better Than Heaven'
Does 'slightly post-apocalyptic' make sense? 'Better Than Heaven' isn't loud and proud, instead going for a darker, downbeat aesthetic. At least for the first two thirds, at any rate. Then the guitars really kick in and that near trademark Bloc Party audible light show (again, we're talking tosh here, aren't we?) makes itself known. We suspect this one is a grower.
'Ion Square'
Forty five seconds in and we're recalling 'So Here We Are', and to be honest, it's as good a reference point as any. Instead of the open, rising euphoria we're instead tied down slightly by a more prominent beat, but by half way through things are really starting to build before going onto an all out crescendo. Not the end that the start of the record would have you thinking by any means, but still remarkably effective.
The Verdict:
Well, it's better than 'A Weekend In The City', possibly not quite up there with 'Silent Alarm' (though we suspect that may be a case of rose tinted specs at this point; ask us again in a few days - Ed). Top marks for trying new things, and in effect what we may be looking at here is two albums in one. Certainly, there'll be those who love 'Ares' and 'Mercury' and wanted more of the madness, and those who sit far more comfortably with what follows. We're firmly in the first camp, for the record, but on first listen there's enough to have us going back straight away for a second. Can't say fairer than that.
Subscribe to the DIY News Feed
