It took about four years, but Bloc Party's fourth album will be a fact in August 2012. Lead singer Kele Okereke announced in September 2011 that he might have been fired after seeing the rest of the band go into a rehearsal room while he knew nothing about it. This all turned out to be based on a misunderstanding. Well, there are more bands that can make excellent music, but communicate poorly. In
… any case, Bloc Party is back at full strength and that means that the band sounds more aggressive and bombastic than before. That's a good thing, because after all the drama, as a listener you don't want to be dismissed with a colorless album. The group still manages to weave a touch of dance into their indie pop and also gives space to roots influences on Four. More striking are the loud guitars and screaming vocals that you usually don't encounter in Britpop bands. With the exception of a few quieter songs, Bloc Party tries to reclaim a place in the musical landscape by means of the grand gesture. (JE)more
