Album Review: Bloc Party - Hymns
BLOC PARTY
Hymns
January 29, 2016
Infectious Music UK / BMG Rights Mgmt
4.5/10
A middling effort through and through. Pristine and beautiful guitar work by Russell Lissack isn't enough to save Bloc Party's 5th studio release from sounding like scraps from Kele's previous solo efforts.
Bloc Party in 2004 with original lineup: Matt Tong, Kele Okereke, Gordon Moakes, and Russell Lissack
Let's start from the beginning and flashback to 2005, I was a freshman in college. I had a good friend who worked at the college radio station in town. It was located in the basement of the campus' biggest common hall. One night I trudged my way down the stairs to help him move some boxes for the night. I walked in to the room and saw stacks of albums that he'd received from record companies to receive play. Most of them were smaller scale bands or indie (at the time), bands like Polyphonic Spree, Justice, Arctic Monkeys, and some small brit pop-rock band called Bloc Party.
When I walked in he immediately had me take an album entitled Silent Alarm (by said Brit band) home with me to listen through. And listen I did, for days on end. It didn't leave my car stereo for a solid month. It was fast, it was raw, it was highly emotive, and it was tinged with British punk angst. I loved it. To this day that album has become an important component in my musical upbringing, especially with regards to contemporary music. It holds a special place in my heart along side albums like Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism, The Mars Volta's De-Loused at the Comatorium, and Brand New's Deja Entendu. Easily finding it's way into my Top 10 albums of the Millenium thus far.
Well, Bloc Party continued to pump out records. Two seemingly immediate releases entitled Weekend in the City (2007) and Intimacy (2008) did some things to change the sound of the band but mostly solidified them as the reigning kings of Indie Brit Rock. Frontman Kele Okereke was a rock god. His lyrics and songwriting could do no wrong. Over the course of the next few years there occured: two hiautuses, two solo albums for Kele, and a fourth album for the band in 2012 entitled Four which seemed to be putting the band back on the right track. However, the bands future was always uncertain. No clearer was this shown than in 2013 and 2015 when drummer Matt Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes, respectively, left the band. It seemed the band was finished. I'd completely given up hopes that they'd continue as a four piece again, especially since Kele seemed to always be working on other projects. Undeterred Kele and guitarist Russell Lissack trudged on, finding two replacements, apparently taking part in Crossfit (seriously, look at them) and pumped out a new album entitled Hymns this past week.
The new Bloc Party lineup conisting of Justin Harris, Louise Bartle, Kele Okereke, and Russell Lissack
Which brings us to the present. And the new Bloc Party.
Hymns goes all-in with it's opening track "The Love Within", a full pop dancy electrobeat single. This album is obviously not going to do anything to remind you of what this band does best. But rather what Kele does best, sing beyond the lyrics on the page. This album doesn't sound so much like a band crafting an album collectively but rather Kele congregating his bandmates around his message and vision. I can't necessarily fault them for this move, however, it barely registers with the listener that this is Bloc Party, and that's not for the best.
Songs like "Fortress" are built around an apparent mission for Kele to give his take on the increasingly popular neo-soul genre. The problem isn't that it flops or fails but it just doesn't quite fit. There's a lot of him singing with a sultry tone in his lowest register over electro bass drones on this record, and while that might actually be an enticing thought, the lack of commitment to whatever sounds and genres they're flirting with on this record stop things short.
Don't get me wrong, as disappointed as I was by this record, I loved one major component. The playful sound of Russell Lissacks guitar. He has consistently been the workhorse for this band. And his work shines again on this record. If more of the songs off this album had the balance of "Into the Earth" than I'd certainly be writing a different review.
Here's the issue I struggle with. I love this band. I love Kele and Russell. And I will likely continue to listen and continue to seek out whatever they work on. But at this point it's not based on the anticipation for the "next big Bloc Party record" it's simply brand loyalty. If any other band had released this album, I'd be singing it's praises to the moon and back, but again, the bar is high for this band, and has been (for better or worse) for 12 years. There are moments on Hymns that could give their biggest fans small pleasure but it's a clear example of how the mighty have fallen.