The Nextwave Sessions Review

The future of Bloc Party is once again in doubt with the band on another ‘indefinite hiatus’. If this really is the end, at least they’ve left a memorable swan-song. Far more engaging and creatively attuned than last year’s half-hearted comeback LP Four, the Londoners new mini-album sets controls for the heart of the dance-floor. Indeed, with its minimal beats and machine-like propulsiveness, it arguably has more in common with frontman Kele Okereke’s 2010 solo album, on which he conspicuously forsook his indie roots and followed his heart into the electronica realm.
The first two tracks, ‘Ratchet’ and ‘Obscene’ (sounds like an X-rated video game when you say it out loud), were recorded with Dan Carey, a pop producer who’s worked with Hot Chip and Lianne La Havas and his imprint is discernible: the four to the floor beat on ‘Ratchet’ may frighten the bejyasus out of the student disco set, but it makes for a delicious pairing with Okereke’s arch falsetto; on ‘Obscene’ the tempos are so icy you can practically see the singer’s frozen breath rising from the speakers. There’s a reversion to the group’s Joy Division-esque origins on ‘French Exit’ before they take things down a notch (or ten) on jangling, bittersweet ‘Children Of The’, which feels like a companion piece to early hit ‘This Modern Love’.
In a recent interview Okereke confessed that Bloc Party weren’t the best at expressing their feelings and that they hoped to use the time away to clear the air. Whatever happens, The Nextwave Sessions makes for a respectable sign off and is perhaps their finest moment since debut Silent Alarm.

Key Track: 'Ratchet'