Bloc Party Recording Update & New Song!
UPDATE: James hooked us all up with another great live recording, this one of “Waiting For The 7.18″, which was the other new song Bloc Party debuted to the Coachella crowd. Download it below.
First of all, I’d like to thank James over at Blog Party, your go-to place for all things Bloc Party, for being the source of most of this information, and if you like Bloc Party anywhere near as much as I do you should be checking his site regularly. Now onto the massive amounts of Bloc Party news.
Leading off, Bloc Party rocked Coachella to its collective knees yesterday, putting on an excellent show (which I watched live via ATT’s webcast of the show) and even debuting two new songs to the crowds at Indio. Official friend of Good Weather For Airstrikes, Jenni Romanek, was there in the front row and reported breathlessly over the phone that the show was “amazing” and “the best thing [she’d] ever seen”, before collapsing in a heap of euphoria. But in the best news regarding the band’s performance, Drew from the Always New Depths forums was able to grab a very high quality recording of “Uniform”, one of the two new songs played, which means we can finally put to rest the poor-quality Bloc Party live recordings that have been circulating the internet for the past month or so. No word yet on whether or not anyone was able to get a good-quality recording of “Waiting For The 7.18″, but below is the band’s complete Coachella setlist as well as the downloadable live recording of “Uniform”.
Setlist:
1. “Waiting For The 7.18″ (via Blog Party) [new song!]
2. “Positive Tension”
3. “Banquet”
4. “Blue Light”
5. “She’s Hearing Voices”
6. “Uniform” (via Blog Party) [new song!]
7. “This Modern Love”
8. “Like Eating Glass”
9. “So Here We Are”
10. “Helicopter”
As for the recording update, Bloc Party will be heading into the studio with Jacknife Lee, best known for his production work on the last two Snow Patrol albums, upon returning from Coachella (so like, now). As for the sound of their sophomore release, Kele had much to say:
“…I know, I know, I know, I’ve been pretty slack in keeping you guys up to date so I thought as I have just compiled a playlist of the album contenders that I would let you guys in on it. On first thoughts, this album is going to be angry, not angry in a “fuck you, I won’t tidy my bedroom!” Linkin Park way, more silent rage, like what is left when frustration boils over. Lyrically a lot of the abstraction has gone, the ideas are clearer and braver.
The new record will not be called ‘Urbanite Relaxation’, I told a journalist that would be one of the main themes, not the title. After reading ‘Society Of The Spectacle’ by Guy Debord and ‘A Critique Of Everyday Life’ by Henry Lefebvre I literally became obsessed with these minute details of everyday life in a modern capitalist society. Commuting, working, drinking, watching time slip by.
It’s not a dance punk record, that shit has been done to death. Dance punk will not be a noose around our necks. The songs that stand out for me are: ‘A Song for Clayton’, ‘Kreuzberg’, ‘Sunday’, ‘Perfect Teens’ (formerly ‘Machine’), ‘Wet’, ‘Seroxat’ and ‘England’ (formerly ‘Blue Moon’).”
So yeah, it sounds like the guys are moving away from the dance rock sound of “Banquet” that helped them to strike it big and more towards the more mature sound hinted at on singles “Two More Years” and “So Here We Are”, and “Uniform” definitely supports this notion.
Kele also has a message regarding the poor-quality live recordings that surfaced a little while ago:
“Also to all you fans that have downloaded some live new tracks, please don’t get too attached to them, as we are still in the process of overhauling everything. Those songs are just templates, playing them live to you guys helped us decide what worked and what didn’t, that is all.”
In other exciting news, Bloc Party is rumored to be announcing a US tour soon, featuring support from GWFAS’ favorites Mew and The Secret Machines, though details are unconfirmed at this point. Their sophomore effort is tentatively slated for an early-fall (Septemberish) release, and I’m more or less too excited to function; be sure to keep checking Blog Party for all your Bloc Party needs and updates.