Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke has shared that the band are working on “exciting” new music.
READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Kele Okereke
The indie veterans released their sixth album ‘Alpha Games‘ last year, with Okereke previously telling NME that he was “more excited about the energy that the band has right now” than he was concerned with their legacy.
Now, after the recent release of his sixth solo album ‘The Flames pt. 2’, he has now told NME that Bloc Party are already back at work. Speaking with NME‘s In Conversation series, Okereke shared: “We, Bloc Party, have been writing in the last week.”
He continued: “We have made a lot of music over the years and we’re going to make more. We are writing at the moment and it feels exciting.”
The frontman acknowledged that he considered himself a “restless person”, and attributed that to being one of the reasons why he has made so many records.
When asked about his current influences, he shared “I’ve been listening to this little-known artist, Beyoncé…have you heard of her?”
He added: “I went to the ABBA musical, which blew my mind a bit”, and quoted Doechii as someone he’s been into recently.
Another artist who had a major influence on Okereke’s writing was SOPHIE, the pioneering hyper-pop producer who sadly passed away in 2021. “I was listening to the music of SOPHIE a lot in lockdown when I felt I needed to dance. I couldn’t go out to dance, so it became very special to me,” he explained.
In other news, Bloc Party are set to support Paramore’s upcoming tour, alongside Foals, The Linda Lindas and Genesis Owusu.
Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams previously spoke about how Bloc Party had influenced their recent comeback album ‘This Is Why’.
“From day one, Bloc Party was the number one reference because there was such an urgency to their sound that was different to the fast punk or the pop punk or the like, loud wall of sound emo bands that were happening in the early 2000s,” she explained.
In a three-star review of Bloc Party’s sixth studio album, NME said: “‘Alpha Games’ sees Bloc Party still championing the ’00s scene that they came up in, but there’s not a hint of nostalgia in sight. With a renewed vigour and the desire to keep things moving, this sixth album could soundtrack a new generation of indie discos.”
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