Bloc Party have announced a new album, ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’, which they describe as arguably their most personal record to date. Check out the romantic new single ‘Coming On Strong’ below.
The new record comes as a “chronological portrait of a love affair, and progresses right from the first glances through to the heartbreak and final farewell”. It marks the seventh album from Bloc Party, following on from 2022’s ‘Alpha Games’.
Spread out across 14 songs and produced by Trevor Horn (Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood), the record is structured like a memoir from frontman Kele Okereke and features some of the most personal songs he has ever written.
“Every lyric you’re hearing on this record was something that actually happened to me. I had to tell the story, from start to finish,” he said, explaining how it was written after he separated from the father of his children after over a decade, and unexpectedly met someone and fell in love again.
“Having this romance, this new thing emerge, it kept me sane, in a very dark time,” he shared, adding that he now feels “less prudish about sex and connection and intimacy” and has “no qualms talking about it, because that connection is important”.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that candid in the past,” he continued, also adding that the record captures intimate details like inside-jokes, vicious barbs, and heavy emotions.
Today (Tuesday May 12), Bloc Party share the first teaser of the album with the lead single ‘Coming On Strong’.
The second song on the tracklist, the single captures the sense of excitement from first starting a romantic relationship with a new partner through its swirling guitars and energetic, thumping drum beat.
Alongside the sense of joy at the forefront, the song gradually introduces a more sinister feel as it progresses, implying that there are already red flags popping up about the relationship.
“It’s that feeling of, I’ve had my eye on this person for a while, and then we’re finally in a situation where we can be something to each other. And that’s such a seductive feeling,” Okereke explained.
“You’re not seeing their problems, and they’re not seeing your problems. You’re just shaping up and getting ready for this ride… [but] I like the fact that harmonically and musically, it feels dark, sinister, like something is creeping up.”
The first songs on the record have a similar feeling of feeling deeply for someone, and the rest of the album explores how the cracks can begin to show, through to the heartbreak of a final goodbye – and the frontman said that writing so openly about these emotions helped him come to terms with them.
“When I finished singing the words about him, I did feel a sense of relief,” he said. “I felt like, ‘OK, you can put this all somewhere now, and it doesn’t have to eat you up any more’. It is a document, for me, and for other people. Love isn’t just good times, it’s bad times, too. And you look at it and document it, don’t you? You try to understand it, in that way.”
‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ is set for release on September 11 on the new record label cOnTAGIOUS LTD (via Virgin Music Group). Visit here to pre-order.
The ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ tracklist is:
1. ‘22.01.22’
2. ‘Coming On Strong’
3. ‘Love Bombs’
4. ‘Pigwig’
5. ‘Lagoon Blue’
6. ‘Muscleworks’
7. ‘Clark Kent’
8. ‘Worst Birthday Ever’
9. ‘Not Your Problem’
10. ‘Now We Can’t Be Friends’
11. ‘Rotherhithe’
12. ‘Stories’
13. ‘Moving On’
14. ‘Eulogy’
Last spring, Okereke told NME about what fans could expect from their upcoming seventh album, sharing that it would be “disco heartbreak” inspired.
“It’s a record about heartbreak, really – that’s the only thing I can say about it at this stage. Hopefully it will be out next year, but we’ll see,” he said, also going on to share what it was like to work with iconic producer Trevor Horn.
“He’s made some of my favourite records of all time, so it’s quite interesting to hear what he has to say. He’s been making records for most of his life, for over 50 years, so he seems to know all the tricks. He seems to know everyone as well and have a story about everyone.”
This March, Bloc Party used their slot at BBC 6 Music Festival to debut three new songs from their upcoming album live.
The first was the newly released ‘Coming On Strong’, and they followed this with ‘Love Bombs’ – a synth-led anthem about overbearing romantic love – and finally ‘Pigwig’, which sounds like a catchy, classic indie-rock track.
Later this year, Bloc Party will be joining Muse on their North American tour, before heading on a UK and EU co-headline tour with Interpol in the autumn.
