Bloc Party reveal details of new album

Since Bloc Party exploded onto the scene a few years ago, Kele Okereke has earned a reputation as one of the most articulate and engaging frontmen in modern rock, and he certainly had plenty to say to Hot Press before his group’s recent triumphant show at the Big Top in the Phoenix Park.
In perhaps his most fascinating interview to date, Okereke revealed that he has already written the lyrics to Bloc Party’s third album, and discussed the thematic areas the record will cover. “I guess if A Weekend In The City was a record about complaining about going out, this record will be concerned with intimacy and human relationships,” he explained. “It will be about interior spaces, thoughts and desires. It won’t be personal in the sense of being autobiographical, but personal in the sense of asking what is desire, and trying to explain how the mind justifies itself.”
Okereke also relates that controversial author Bret Easton Ellis – whose cult novel Less Than Zero inspired the first song on A Weekend In The City, ‘Song For Clay (Disappear Here)’ – is a fan of the band and has expressed an interest in meeting them, and goes on to talk about playing Live Earth (where Bloc Party bassist Gordon Moakes joined Spinal Tap for a rendition of ‘Big Bottoms’), gigging in Iceland and the competitive nature of being in a band.
In addition, Kele offers his characteristically frank views on LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead and Kirsten Dunst, who is highly unlikely to be on the singer’s Christmas card list. Read this unmissable interview in the special Christmas edition of Hot Press, in shops on November 29.