As the sun sets over countryside Nashik, Bloc Party jams in their green room, creating a bubble of their own away from the trance music playing onstage at the recently concluded 10th Sula Fest. All set to perform for the first time in India, the English Indie rock band tunes their instruments while humming songs from their latest album Hymns .
Formed more than a decade ago, the band has been through its share of line-up changes. When the group came together, it consisted of lead singer Kele Okereke, guitarist Russell Lissack, drummer Matt Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes. But like several successful bands, the group dismantled after battling an identity crisis. In the summer of 2013, Tong announced his departure and then in 2015, Moakes made his exit. With two members down and after a four-year gap, Okereke and Lissack released their fifth album last year with two new members: bassist Justin Harris and drummer Louise Bartle.
The reincarnation
Before the growing internal conflict led to the group’s disintegration, the band went on hiatus in October 2009 and was reunited in September 2011. And in 2013, an indefinite hiatus was declared, only for them to return in 2015 with a new avatar. “It feels like the old Bloc Party has been killed, and we’ve been connected into a new body,” says Okereke, who founded the band along with Lissack.
And now, they’ve got a female drummer in Bartle. “We knew girls are going to run the world,” quips Okereke.
According to the singer, they weren’t actively looking for a female member but it has certainly made a difference. “We’re better behaved, now that we have her,” he adds.
Bloc Party’s latest album witnessed the band radically reinvent itself and enter a new realm, with song titles like ‘Only He Can Heal Me’ and ‘The Good News’. “Every record that you make, you’re motivated to do it for reasons you can’t really explain,” says Okereke, who insists that the album isn’t explicitly spiritual.
But what about the singer’s beliefs? “I’m not [religious], but I did have a religious upbringing,” he says, adding that in the past, he has skirted around the idea of sacredness in his music. But he couldn’t fully explore his individual understanding of spirituality, one that transcends religion. This is reflected in the references made to the earth, sky, water and nature in their lyrics. According to the singer, the response to the album has been positive since it released in January 2016. “People appreciate that it’s coming from a real place,” he says.
Keeping up with change
In addition to fronting Bloc Party, Okereke also has a parallel solo career. His debut solo album The Boxer was released in 2010 and his second album Trick in 2014.
But his two musical worlds seldom overlap. “When I bring something to the table, it’s simply what I bring to the table, and it’s not collaborative,” he says.
Since the evolution of the music industry in the past decade, consumption patterns have changed too. With access to digital platforms, options have widened drastically. But the singlemost significant change affecting the industry has been a reduction in revenue generated out of recorded releases and an increase in demand for live performances. “It’s all about the lives,” says Bartle. “Just lives, lives and more lives.”
Just before they go on stage, Okereke has a few parting words. Despite a change in band members, he maintains that Bloc Party’s essence has and will continue to remain unchanged.
And this is clearly reiterated in the band’s charismatic performance.
