Intimacy

Obviously, this record has grown on me so much to the point where I have to rewrite my review for it. Most people see this record as the starting point of Bloc Party's downfall, and I can understand that. It feels rushed and a few songs seem to fall apart the more and more they drag, but I see this as an ambitious experiment for the band. If you're into long reviews, this is probably the review for you.

As you could tell by the LP's name, the songs are about love and relationships, particularly on broken relationships, as lead singer Kele was experiencing one himself. To quote from an interview in a Rolling Stone magazine, "...I haven't written about true, personal experiences all that much in the past." and this record's lyrics are quite deep and personal indeed. Not quite as personal as HYNMS, but that's for another review. Let's move onto the tracks.

Ares is such an overlooked opener! According to Kele from an archived snapshot of their site, Matt Tong came up with a drumbeat "that we edited and f*cked with." The track is abrasive, noisy, and it hits very hard. The only problem with the track is the way they executed the "two guys rapping over each other" vocal style. It sounds messy, and it's hard to ignore that mess. Mercury isn't the worst track on the album (looking at you Zephyrus), it just takes a while to get used to it. It's definitely repetitive, but there's a few elements of the track that flow nice before falling apart with the brass instruments submerging your ears at the end.

The album has a couple of somber moments as well. Biko is definitely the saddest track on the album, and this is where Kele's songwriting gets personal and deep. "Was my love strong enough to bring you back from the dead / If I could eat your cancer I would but I can't" assumes that the narrators partner or friend is dying from cancer, and "I left you blueberries in the fridge / The little things that I can do" could mean that the narrator cares a lot about that person, however, an earlier lyric "This world isn't kind to little things" indicates that small gestures may often go unnoticed. That's just what I think of the track's lyrics, it can be different for everyone.

Another somber track is Zephyrus, which is what I consider to be the weakest track on the list. Its most likely about the narrator cheating on their partner. It's hard to understand this one nearly as well as Biko, but instrumentally it's pretty boring, and forgettable. But for Halo, Signs, One Month Off, and Talons, they're all really nice new rave/indietronica tracks that fit right at home on here. Catchy, energetic, memorable, all are typically solid across the board. Trojan Horse on the other hand is quite forgettable, but it's an alright track.

Better Than Heaven's lyrics intrigued me, Kele refers to a bible verse (Corinthians 15:22) after the lyric "It's only sin, original sin". This is really confusing because there's a questionable part later in the second verse ("You can use your hands for something else / Put down your books and molest me".) What is the song trying to tell us here? Is sex better than heaven? It's very difficult to put the words together for this one. The song has a powerful ending with the drums, though!

The final track, Ion Square, is the best out of the bunch here. As the song goes on, more and more instruments get added to the song, the bass gets heavier, and it all leads to one hell of a good 6 minutes to close off the album with a BANG. The song's lyrics are like a love journey between two people. One long journey summarized into a song, The lyric "Cause' I love my mind when I'm fucking you" caught me off guard initially. I feel like Kele dropped the F-bomb to convey how powerful a relationship really is. And the instrumentals building up toward this part emphasize that strength even farther. "So let's stay in / Let the sofa be our car / Let's stay in / Let the TV be our stars" is probably my favorite lyric here, which describes the narrator's desire to stay home with their partner. This is such a powerful song, especially when you understand the lyrics.

Thank you for reading the longest review I've ever done yet. If you don't mind me, my fingers are going to need a break from typing all of this.