Bloc Party - Intimacy

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Bloc Party - Intimacy

“It’s easy to hear why Bloc Party decided to rush release the digital edition of its third studio disc in August. Full of jagged guitar riffs, forward-motion drum beats and air-siren keyboard lines—not to mention a true-to-its-title lyrical focus on the excruciating end of a romantic relationship—”Intimacy” is the English dance-punk outfit’s most urgent-sounding effort yet, and frontman Kele Okereke and his bandmates probably couldn’t bear the thought of waiting two or three months for it to be heard. As it happens, the album’s heat hasn’t cooled yet. On such tracks as opener “Ares,” “Trojan Horse” and “Mercury” (the album’s drum’n'bass-inspired lead single) Bloc Party generates a textural and emotional intensity that it has only hinted at in the past.—Mikael Wood”

Bloc Party Expands ‘Intimacy’ For CD

Bloc Party is expanding its third album, “Intimacy,” for CD release on Oct. 28 via Atlantic. Fans who pre-ordered the album through the band in August received an immediate download of the set, but without the songs “Letter To My Son,” “Your Visits Are Getting Shorter,” “Talons” and “Flux.”

Those four tracks, plus acoustic versions of “Talons” and “Signs,” will also be available in the wider digital release next week. “Some of the tracks weren’t even finished when we put it on the Internet,” drummer Matt Tong tells Billboard.com. “And you have to sweeten the deal out there for the traditionalists.”

Tong says he’s unaware of data that reveals how many fans pre-ordered the album, but says the band is “definitely happy” with the experiment. “The feedback has been really good so far.”

The new tracks from “Intimacy” are more rigid than early Bloc Party material, which has presented challenges as the band works them out for the road.

“We always like to have our shows to be high energy,” Tong explains. “But you can’t mess around with them too much. The arrangements [on the older songs] were much more fluid. They allow more of interpretation. The new ones involve a much different approach.”

Although nothing is confirmed, Bloc Party has tentative plans to return to North America in December for some radio station-sponsored festivals.

Here is the final track list for “Intimacy”:

“Ares”
“Mercury”
“Halo”
“Biko”
“Trojan Horse”
“Signs”
“One Month Off”
“Zephyrus”
“Talons”
“Better Than Heaven”
“Ion Square”
“Letter To My Son”
“Your Visits Are Getting Shorter”
“Flux”