Bloc Party- 'Talons', and the infuriating truth of their track distribution.
Bloc Party- Talons (Link 2)The hype surrounding 'Intimacy' is slowly ebbing away. In retrospect, you gotta say- what a move by Bloc Party. I'll be posting my full verdict on the album soon, but this I'll say: 'Intimacy' definitely has its charms.
Bloc Party are a pretty solid band by my reckoning. I don't buy into this whole 'Kele is a moody bastard' shit- as long as the tunes keep coming, then I'll be happy. Kele is entitled to his privacy, and his mood-swings. I do, however, have a few niggles with the band, all based around their music, and primarily where its going. Firstly, one of my mates astutely pointed out that Bloc Party always release great songs in the aftermath of an album release. It's happened thrice- 'Two More Years' and 'The Marshalls Are Dead' were nigh on perfect, and could have lifted the latter part of 'Silent Alarm'. 'Weekend In The City' suffered badly from top-heavy track listing, and was followed by a host of bonus tracks that were stronger than most of the songs on the album ('Rhododendron', 'Atonement', 'The Once And Future King' and 'Version 2.0' to name a few).
And now, we have 'Intimacy'. The pacing is kind of wrong on this album... it starts loudly, but the first few songs are weak and jarring, excepting 'Biko'. The album slowly builds to a perfect, redeeming second half. Riddle me this- I purchased the mp3 version of the album, and whilst I recieved their new single (I thought single's were meant to come from albums?) 'Talons' free by email, it is not included in the album listing. This is a move beyond comprehension- 'Talons' is one of the stronger singles they've released in recent years, with chiming bells and a dance riff that is definitive of Bloc Party's new direction. Kele said of 'Talons':
“We wanted to keep things fresh and we thought the fans would be more excited to get a new song rather than something off the album. Talons is one of the last songs we recorded during the Intimacy sessions and I always had it in mind to be one of the extra tracks we promised for the CD if it turned out well. It turned out great so we decided to make it the next single. I’m enjoying this way of working, not over-thinking things, just make a decision and get on with it! It’s quite liberating in a way, I’m sure it’s going to be the way things happen more and more in the future."
The person responsible for the ordering of BP's albums really needs to get the boot. All three have been either top or bottom heavy, with unbelievable emissions- think about 'Intimacy', except remove 'Ares' and 'Mercury' and replace them with the one two punch of 'Talons' and 'Flux'. That's a proposition.
Secondly- where do the band see themselves in a few years time? I get the distinct impression that 'Silent Alarm' was just a front- albeit a fantastic, album of the year front. However, Kele has always made it clear that he wants to experiment- I remember one particular interview where he spoke of his long term wish- to mess around with Timbaland beats, basically. I respect this, but why not just start as you wish to continue? Anyway, back to the present- 'Talons' is another triumph for the band. It's just not going to make as big of an impact as it could.
Intimacy can be bought from the Bloc Party website. In doing so, you can collect your free download of 'Talons'.
