“I want to declare a war,” exclaims singer Kele Okereke on his band’s deceptively titled third album, Intimacy. This is not, after all, an album composed of adult contemporary treacle, though Okereke has stated that the disc was inspired by the dissolution of a relationship. Alternately aggressive and melancholy, primal and refined, Intimacy bears the marks of a band beginning to create its own unique sound and persona.
Following the release of their debut album Silent Alarm in 2005, Bloc Party became big stars in the UK and underground sensations in America. That album’s hyperactive post-punk textures helped it reach #3 on the UK album charts. In 2007 the band released their second album, A Weekend in the City, on which the explosive energy and pulse of their debut was largely abandoned in favor of expansive, electronic-tinged anthems about modern isolation. Although A Weekend in the City had its merits, Bloc Party were in danger of becoming too pretentious for their own good.
Intimacy opens with a roar on “Ares,” a track that, as its name would suggest, sounds positively martial in its execution. Guitars wail like a Bomb Squad production and the drums sound as if they will break at any moment. Okereke sounds like he can barely get all the words out before he collapses. This introduction segues into “Mercury,” the album’s first single (an odd choice because, though the song is excellent, it’s not especially radio-friendly).
At first listen, “Mercury” sounds as if it lacks direction, but repeated spins reveal the depth of the track and the extent to which the band have merged rock and electronic music. On A Weekend in the City, electronics were used as decoration on an album consisting of guitar-based rock (though the guitars were, admittedly, heavily manipulated). On Intimacy, the electronics and guitars are synonymous. But the album isn’t all about club energy. “Biko,” “Signs,” and “Zephyrus” are so elegantly romantic in their heartbreak they are almost painful to hear.
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