Bloc Party have been together since 1999, with names such as Superheroes of BMX, The Angel Range, Diet, and Union, before settling on Bloc Party in September 2003. Band members Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack have formed the fulcrum of these various incarnations, and were subsequently joined by bassist Gordon Moakes who answered an advert in the NME, and most recently drummer Matt Tong. Lissack and singer/guitarist Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in Essex, where Lissack had grown up and Okereke attended school. Lissack attended Bancroft's School and Okereke attended Ilford County High School until 16 then Trinity School for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and soon after formed the band Union.
In 2003 they changed their name from Union to Bloc Party. The name is a play on block party, a name for an informal neighbourhood festival, which might hire a local band as entertainment. The band have said that the name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois; the absence of a 'k' is purely for aesthetics.
However, the band's bassist, Gordon Moakes, said on the group's official internet forum that it was more a merging of the eastern "blocs" and the western "parties", in the political sense. Moakes notes that the name was not driven by politics, but rather it "looked, sounded, seemed fine so we went with it."
In November 2003, Bloc Party had their track "The Marshalls Are Dead" featured on a compilation CD called The New Cross released by Angular Recording Corporation. Soon after they released their debut sngle "She's Hearing Voices" on the then fledgling record label Trash Aesthetics.
The band got their break after Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003, and was able to thrust a copy of the single into the hands of both Franz lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Lamacq subsequently played the song on his radio show, labeling the track "genius", and invited them to record a live session for the show.
The buzz generated off the back of the single sparked some A&R interest, leading to another single "Banquet", this time released by the label Moshi Moshi, and to the eventual signing with indie label Wichita Recordings in April 2004.
Bloc Party's own variation of spiky guitar rock draws on influences such as The Cure, Gang of Four, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Joy Division, and XTC, but the band says that some of these bands are just comparisons. Does that last bit even mean anything?
The drumming on Bloc Party songs is often influenced by the London dance and R&B scene whilst the guitar demonstrates typical indie sharpness with alternative panned chords and fast chord picking. To achieve their unique guitar style, BOSS echo effects equipment is implemented and is particularly apparent on the track "Like Eating Glass".
The musical style of A Weekend in the City is more varied, however, drawing influence particularly from more expansive sounding bands, including Radiohead. As large as Bloc Party has been over recent years, they are still in their youth. They have developed unique songs and sounds, but they are still trying to find their own personality. The song "Flux" was released at the end of 2007 as an add-on to A Weekend in the City. The band is coming to terms with its growth and development, and should find itself with its next album.
Silent Alarm (2004–2006)
Their debut album Silent Alarm, released in February 2005, was met with critical acclaim and broke sales records, being voted by NME critics as the 2005 album of the year and reaching #3 on UK album charts (selling platinum in the UK). The second single from the album "So Here We Are" made the top 5 on UK charts. Further singles "Banquet" (which reached #13 in NME's "Top 50 singles of 2005"), "Helicopter" (which featured on the FIFA 06, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Project Gotham Racing 3, Burnout Revenge and Guitar Hero III game soundtracks) and "Pioneers" (July 2005), whilst failing to repeat this success, managed to make dents in the UK top 20. The animated video for the single "Pioneers" was number one in the NME video charts for 4 weeks and was made for a tiny budget in four weeks by the Shoreditch based Mini Vegas design agency.
Even though the band was met with good reviews from critics in America, Bloc Party failed to break through to the pop or rock charts in the US.
Bloc Party became one of the most popular new bands of 2005, and the established electronic group The Chemical Brothers soon collaborated with Okereke for "Believe", a track on the Brothers' Push the Button album.
An album of remixes of tracks from Silent Alarm was released at the end of August in the UK. This remix album, Silent Alarm Remixed, retained the album's original track list and includes remixes from the likes of Ladytron, M83, Death from Above 1979, Four Tet and Mogwai.
During July, they recorded two new tracks (titles were given of "Hero" and "Two More Years") with Silent Alarm producer Paul Epworth. The latter, "Two More Years" was released on October 3 to coincide with their October 2005 UK tour. The songs were released as an EP titled Two More Years, accompanied with a re-release of Silent Alarm, which included "Two More Years" itself along with former single "Little Thoughts". The single format of "Two More Years" contained a remix of "Banquet" done by The Streets, for which a video was also recorded.
The band also contributed the track "The Present" to the Help: a Day in the Life compilation, the profits of which benefits the War Child charity.
The single "Banquet" was sampled in 2006 by DJ Green Lantern for a track with Apathy, Tak (of rap duo Styles of Beyond) and Mike Shinoda. The track, entitled "Bloc Party", appears on Green Lantern's Fort Minor: We Major mixtape.
The band released their second album, called A Weekend in the City on February 5, 2007 in the UK and February 6 in the United States. The album debuted at #12 in the Billboard 200 with 48,000 copies sold. It became available via the UK's iTunes store a day ahead of schedule, on February 4, and reached the #2 spot in the Official UK Chart. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee. The first single, "The Prayer", was released on January 29. This single had been located on their MySpace since November 22, 2006. The next single, "I Still Remember", is their first American single. In the build up to the release of the album, Zane Lowe aired a live set from Maida Vale featuring a mix of old songs and new ones on his evening radio show on BBC Radio 1 on January 30, 2007. On February 1, 2007, A Weekend in the City was made available to listen to for free through the band's official MySpace page.
The band's first gig following the release of AWITC was on February 5 at Reading Hexagon. It was broadcasted live on BBC's Music Station 6 Music that night as well.
Bloc Party played in the Live Earth concerts on July 7, 2007 and T in the Park and the Oxegen Festival that same weekend, as well as Glastonbury and the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2007.
On 27th October, Bloc Party showed "Flux" to the world at their gig during the BBC Electric Proms, and on November 12th, they released the single. It charted well, reaching #8 in the UK charts, and was well received both by critics and fans, despite the new electronic direction.
On 7th July, Bloc Party premiered new track "Mercury" on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show following a countdown timer on Bloc Party's website. The track took a bold new direction, moving away from guitar rock, with an experimental electronic sound. The track charted at #16 in the UK charts when it was released as a single on the 11th of August.
On the 18th of August, in a webcam chat with fans, they announced that their third album, Intimacy, would be released for download on their website on the 21st of August. The album contained
On the 23rd and 24th of August, Bloc Party played second headliners before The Killers at Reading & Leeds Festivals, opening their set with "Mercury", and also playing "One Month Off" from their new album. They also played an entirely unplanned encore of "She's Hearing Voices".
The album Intimacy was released in physical formats on October 27th, featuring additional tracks, such as current single "Talons".
In June 2009 it was announced that a new single, "One More Chance", would be released on 10 August 2009. The song did not appear on Intimacy and was produced by Jacknife Lee. It was played for the first time on BBC Radio 1 on 18 June. In an interview with Zane Lowe immediately following the premier playing of the song, Okereke said that he was in the studio but that he couldn't "tell you anything"
In July 2009, Okereke stated that the band did not have a current recording contract and had no obligation or pressure to release a new album in the foreseeable future; he went on to suggest that the release of a fourth album is on an indefinite timescale
On 31 October 2009 the band played their final gig of the Bloctober tour at Bournemouth International Centre, home town of drummer Matt Tong. This was recognised as the band's last gig before going on hiatus.
In a February 2010 interview with NME Magazine, Lissack answered direct questions about Bloc Party's future, saying:
"We're probably going to pick up again with Bloc Party later this year. I mean, we wrote a lot of new material on the last tour. What does it sound like? It's hard to say. It's still just sketches of songs. The feel will come together in the studio. We're definitely not splitting up, there's a lot more creative life left in it yet."
On 11 July 2012, the band released "Octopus", the first single from their upcoming fourth album "Four". The album was released on 20 August 2012.
During the summer tour of 2013, drummer Matt Tong left the band. Lissack told a Canadian newspaper, the National Post that the band were planning to take an indefinite hiatus following their appearance at the Latitude Festival on 19 July.
In September 2014, Okereke stated that Bloc Party were working on a fifth album. In March 2015, bassist Gordon Moakes tweeted he had parted ways with Bloc Party. Bloc Party unveiled their new line-up at two intimate gigs in the Los Angeles area (19 August 2015 at The Glass House in Pomona and 20 August 2015 at The Roxy in Los Angeles). Following these performances, Bloc Party also subheadlined FYF Fest in Los Angeles on 22 August 2015. At these shows, the band confirmed that they've finished recording their next album. The shows marked the live debut for new bassist Justin Harris of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock outfit Menomena, who had previously opened several Bloc Party U.S. tour dates in April 2009; and drummer Louise Bartle, who was accidentally announced a month earlier as Bloc Party's drummer by instrument manufacturer Natal Drums.
In a performance at Maida Vale, Bloc Party gave "The Good News" its live debut; hours later, "The Love Within" was featured as "Hottest Record in the World" by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1. Okereke revealed the band's upcoming fifth album is set to be titled Hymns. The album's release was later confirmed on social media as 29 January 2016.
Exes
Bloc Party Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, I'm afraid there is not one
See all I have are excuses
My daddy was a hunter and I am my father's son
There was a time for about two weeks
I swore you were the one
Thought I could tell you anything
You were more than a trick, you were more to me than all of it
To all the exes
That I left behind
These words will fall short
But I must try
Everything I was proud of
With everything that I'd done wrong
In your eyes, I was someone
With another history, another past
In the lobby of the Ace Hotel
You will not meet my eyes
Secrets spill on pillows shared
You were more than just light, you were more to me than all of it
To all the exes
That I left behind
These words will fall short
But I must try (try, try)
But I must try (try, try)
But I must try (try, try)
But I must try (try, try)
Ah
To all the exes (ah)
That I left behind (ah)
These words will fall short (ah)
But I must try
The lyrics of Bloc Party's song "Exes" explore the singer's relationships with their past romantic partners. The first few lines suggest that the singer does not have a straightforward explanation for their actions and choices in relationships. They claim to only have excuses, and attribute some of their behavior to their upbringing, stating that their father being a hunter affected them as well, implying perhaps a sense of emotional detachment or slyness.
The next lines touch upon a specific relationship, where the singer briefly believed that their partner was "the one." During this time, they felt comfortable and open with their partner, valuing their connection and feeling that their partner meant more to them than a mere fling. However, the use of the word "trick" suggests that there were other relationships that may have been perceived as less meaningful.
The chorus addresses all of the singer's exes, acknowledging that words may not do justice to the complexity of their feelings and experiences. Despite the limitations of language, the singer feels compelled to make an attempt to express themselves and convey their thoughts to their exes.
The following verses delve into a specific moment in a relationship, set in the lobby of the Ace Hotel. It is revealed that the singer avoids making eye contact with their ex in this setting, possibly suggesting feelings of guilt, shame, or discomfort. The mention of secrets spilling on shared pillows implies a level of intimacy and trust that was once present between the singer and their ex.
The chorus is repeated, emphasizing the singer's desire to try to communicate their feelings to all of their exes, even though they acknowledge that words may not fully capture the depth of their emotions.
The repetition of the lines "But I must try" in the last few lines of the song further highlights the singer's determination to reach out to their exes, despite the challenges they may face in adequately expressing themselves. It is as if the singer feels a sense of urgency in attempting to bridge the gap created by the end of the relationships and make amends, even if it is just through words.
Overall, the lyrics of "Exes" touch upon themes of introspection, regret, and the complexity of human connection. It explores the singer's past relationships, their personal struggles, and their desire to communicate their feelings to their exes, even though they acknowledge the limitations of words in fully capturing their emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
If you seek explanation
If you're looking for a clear reason
Well, I'm afraid there is not one
I'm sorry, but there isn't a specific explanation
See all I have are excuses
All I can offer are excuses
My daddy was a hunter and I am my father's son
My father was a hunter, and I have inherited his traits
There was a time for about two weeks
There was a brief period of time
I swore you were the one
I believed you were the person I was meant to be with
Thought I could tell you anything
I thought I could confide in you about everything
You were more than a trick, you were more to me than all of it
You meant more to me than just a casual relationship, you were significant
To all the exes
To all the people I used to be with
That I left behind
That I ended things with
These words will fall short
These words won't fully express
But I must try
But I still need to make an effort
Everything I was proud of
All the things I took pride in
With everything that I'd done wrong
Despite all the mistakes I made
In your eyes, I was someone
You saw me as a significant person
With another history, another past
With a different background and previous experiences
In the lobby of the Ace Hotel
In the lobby of a specific hotel (Ace Hotel)
You will not meet my eyes
You avoid making eye contact with me
Secrets spill on pillows shared
We shared intimate moments and confided secrets
You were more than just light, you were more to me than all of it
You meant more to me than just a fleeting moment, you were significant
But I must try (try, try)
But I still need to make an effort (repeat)
Ah
To all the exes (ah)
To all the people I used to be with
That I left behind (ah)
That I ended things with
These words will fall short (ah)
These words won't fully express
But I must try
But I still need to make an effort
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RUSSELL LISSACK, KELE OKEREKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mario Indie.
Beautiful song. Prefer this ballad rather than the love within
Spaceghost Zero
good song,will take to time to get used to this new Bloc Party lineup... the one I really miss is Matt :s
James Shuttleworth
Was Kele flown in from his holiday in Kingston, Jamaica to do this live session?
Enki Ea
@Joshua Nathan Strong ... "racist," lol. smh. Get over it. I'm sure Kele is just fine.
Dub Snake
Joshua Nathan Strong then again kele is from Africa and Jamaican culture is African culture.
Dub Snake
Joshua Nathan Strong he's dressed like a tourist tho... how is it racist?
Joshua Nathan Strong
A tad racist? Absolutely
vahidrvahidr
+James Shuttleworth haha
Ashley Alex Hendrickse
I was left gobsmacked in the not so good sense after listening to 'love within' and have tried to forget what I heard there... Glad to hear a piece of music more representative of the undeniable talent of Kele/Bloc Party. Good piece of music. Why on earth was this not the single ??
Thomas V
Absolutely amazing. Loving the bassline parts.