Bloc Party’s third and most anticipated release Intimacy, introduces a new side of Bloc Party old fans may find hard to accept. Ditching the simple, clean, catchy style of their first release Silent Alarm; Intimacy dives head first into the growing trend of electronica. The open track sounds like a new-age mix of Rage Against The Machine and Muse with vocals that could make your ears bleed; I doubt you will make it through the whole song. And their single Flux is so lost in effects and overlays it hard to tell if they even picked up their instruments to make this song. Yet, in songs like Talons, Ions Squares, and Zephyrus, the blend of instruments and electronic background fuse to create a truly new and dynamic amazing sound. And to an extent, I can appreciate the new creativity found in this electronic movement. But in the class of most songs the roots, soul, and basic instruments of music are being lost in a sea of machine-generated samples and sounds. With all these complexities, the best and most basic aspects of Bloc Party have been forgotten. One of the greatest aspects of the old Bloc Party was that they didn’t need a bunch of effects and overlaps to get you on your feet and feel the music; the connection was in simplicity. Though it can still be found in Intimacy, the connection and true music is often diluted and distorted by electronic noise.
Released Oct. 28, 2008
