powerhour24
ONE love, blood, life
As much as I admire their unique sound, I'd like to see what Kele comes up with, he's gotten good at a variety of songwriting.
I still really dig Intimacy.
The whole album has more substance than people give it credit for, kind of like Pop.
With Bloc Party on hiatus, frontman Kele Okereke is striking out on his own. On June 21 in the UK and June 22 in the U.S., Kele (now just going by his first name) will release The Boxer, his solo debut, via Wichita/Polydor and Glassnote in North America, South America, Southeast Asia, and South Africa.
For The Boxer, Kele teamed up with Spank Rock producer XXXChange to make an album of electronic pop. In a press release about the album, Kele said, "The key for the sound of the record was to take things as harsh and as physical as I could make it. The reason for going there was that these are the sounds that make me the happiest in the world."
"Tenderoni", the first single, drops June 14. And even though we haven't heard anything from The Boxer yet, solo Kele already has a website, a blog, a Twitter, a MySpace, and a Facebook page. He's socially connected! Starting this May, he'll play shows around Europe. Below, we've got the tracklist for The Boxer and Kele's tourdates.
The Boxer:
01 Walk Tall
02 On the Lam
03 Tenderoni
04 The Other Side
05 Everything You Wanted
06 New Rules
07 Unholy Thoughts
08 Rise
09 All the Things I Could Never Say
10 Yesterday's Gone
Kele:
05-14 Limerick, Ireland - Dolans
05-15 Cork, Ireland - Cyprus Avenue
05-16 Dublin, Ireland - The Academy
05-17 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring and Airbrake
05-20 Cologne, Germany - E-Werk (Electronic Beats)
05-21 Hamburg, Germany - Prinzenbarhalle
05-22 Berlin, Germany - Weekend Club
06-12 Manchester, England - Warehouse Project Fest
07-16 Ferropolis, Germany - Melt Festival
08-27 Paris, France - Rock En Seine
08-28 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-29 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-31 Ibiza, Spain - Ibiza Rocks
i wouldn't be able to tell you the name of any of the other band members. hopefully this turns out to be some good shit. his voice is for me the reason Bloc rises/rose above the ten million other dance/indie/electro/pop acts out there.
Also, the recent comments from other bandmates make it seem that the hiatus will be short-lived, and that they are eager to get back in the studio later this year to work on stuff they wrote on tour in 2009.
I'm not trying to be an ass here, and I think you all know how much I absolutely LOVE this band (though Matt is far and away my favorite), BUT . . .
. . . I've seen Bloc many times live and, let me tell you -- Kele's voice isn't really that good. Truth be told, Kele's voice is the least impressive thing about Bloc Party. There's definitely studio trickery involved to get it to sound the way it does on the albums. It's not absolute shit. But it's not as good as it is on the albums either.
I read the same thing too from Russell. Power, did you hear those same comments also from Gordy or Matt?
And about Kele's voice, no he doesn't have an amazing technical voice, but he has a unique sound (even live) that adds to what makes their sound stand out to me.
Granted, i haven't seen them live since their debut US tour, but I don't remember his voice being any different than it is on the albums live. Has it really gone that far downhill?
I'm excited for him, and awaiting the release, but I'm not sure how much enjoyment I'll get out of a dance/club-inspired album, let's hope the lyrics will still shine through.