Bloc Party are currently on their sixteenth year!!! In the last few years the band fronted by Kele Okereke stood at the crossroads with a somewhat forgettable album (2012’s Four) and the loss of two core members. The situation had reached a juncture and a decision (certainly one of the most important in their career) needed to be made. Hymns, the band’s fifth album, is the decision and their answer. Guitarist Russell Lissack took us through the making of such pivotal album, which is also an admitted rebirth.
Matt Tong (bass) left the band in 2013 and then Gordon Moakes (drums) left in 2015. How did you and Kele [Okereke, vocals and guitar] deal with the fact that you had lost the band’s rhythm section and longtime bandmates?
They left at different times. Matt left in 2013 when we were touring so at the time we just got a friend to fill in for him so we could finish the tour we were doing at the time, and then Gordon left after we had finished touring… but, we just decided that we wanted to continue. We definitely wanted to keep playing and making music together.
Justin Harris (bass) and Louise Bartle (drums) occupied the empty seats last year. In what way their entrance helped shape this new album? What was their impact on the entire process?
Louise we didn’t meet until we actually started recording the album, but Justin, he was involved once we started writing. He came over to all the recording sessions and played all the bass parts on the record. He just brought a really nice feel to the bass, like a groove. I wrote a lot of the bass parts but he played them because I think he plays them better than I could. He’s been playing bass for 20 years and he has really good feel for the instrument.
In an interview Kele said that the new album “musically and lyrically it was all coming from a different place.” Can you please elaborate on that? Where did you find yourself, as a band, this time around?
I think the main thing we’ve discussed when we first started writing this record was that in comparison to the previous record we wanted to make a record that had a lot more space, to have songs that have a lot more space in them to be able to kind make these individual sounds rather than have the elements fighting against one another. That was kind of the only policy, I guess, that we talked about before we went into it. As a record it’s an amalgamation and collection of our own influences and the things that inspired us over the course of the last few years.
The title of the album seems to suggest some kind of spiritual dimension. Does it feel that way?
Yeah, certainly… Lyrically, I don’t want speak on Kele’s behalf but that’s certainly where, having spoken to him, he has drawn influence for the bulk of the lyrical content on this record. He’s kind of referred back to a lot of the experiences that he had growing up. I think even musically and sonically a lot of the sounds and the textures have a more atmospheric feel to it than probably anything we’ve done before.
And it seems there’s a lot more space in the songs, this time around, which I feel amplified the intensity.
I guess that’s the thing about space. When’s less happening, when’s less there, the things that are actually happening suddenly become more important, they standout more, and have a bigger impact. I think that’s the intention… Less is more, basically. When something does happens, it matters.
On the opening track Kele sings a few times “Let the love consume us.” Would it be fair to say that this work, this album, comes from that, the love of doing it once again with a renewed strength?
You know, I can’t speak for that line in particular but I can say, personally, the time that we did take off of the record and kind of all the changes that happened… It gave me a renewed appreciation for what we do and how much I enjoy what we do and how fortunate I feel to be able to continue doing it.
“It’s not a completely different band but it feels like the core of Bloc Party it’s going in a different direction.”
Does it make sense, to you, to talk about a Bloc Party’s rebirth at this point?
Yeah, I think so because it feels like we have come for a reset, you know? Obviously the main aspect to that is the lineup change because we spent more than ten years working with the same four, which is a long time, and now it has changed with all these different persons involved… But I think it’s also a rebirth in our attitude in how we do things, in our sound, and in lot of different ways. It’s not a completely different band but it feels like the core of Bloc Party it’s going in a different direction.
Was it the band’s decision to have “The Love Within” as the lead single?
We’ve approved but it’s always difficult choosing singles. Personally I find it difficult. We write the songs individually and then when we record them as an album we don’t tend to think, “This could be a single.” It’s a part of the process that happens once the recording is finished. When we make the music is just us, our art, but then when it comes to picking a single that’s when other people start to get involved in the process – managers, record labels, and the people whose opinions you trust and you value.
I mean, it’s definitely not a song that represents the dominant vibe of the album musically.
I guess it’s difficult because the album as whole is quite eclectic and there’s a lot of different styles on this to pick. Choosing one song that represents the album would be really difficult or even impossible. In the UK the second single, “The Good News”, is out and again, I don’t think that sounds anything like the rest of the album either.
“The Love Within” is the first track from the album with a music video. Can you please talk about the video and what you wanted to convey with it?
It’s difficult, to be honest. Making music videos has always been one of the parts that I don’t really get on with. I’m a musician, I make music… I don’t make videos and I don’t think about the songs in that format. Choosing a single is hard, but choosing a video for a single it’s even harder. I like the video, I think it looks appealing, and I think it captures the energy of the song well, in that sense, but I was not involved with its concept.
I was lucky enough to listen the entire album a few times and the first thing I would say about it is that it has an absorbing nature. Did you feel absorbed by it while you’re writing it? At least more than with previous albums.
It’s hard to compare to previous albums. I think every time we make a record, for me it becomes quite consuming. You spent however many months working on it – writing it, recording it, listening to it quite compulsively… So, I can’t compare to the others but certainly on its own it was very consuming and a very intense experience.
I’m curious to know about the recording process for this new album. How did it go the work with producers Tim Bran and Roy Kerr? Did you approach the process differently this time around?
It was a good experience. It was really nice to work with them and it was quite easy as far as making an album goes. I think it went in a slightly different direction to how we initially anticipated. When we first met them we kind of had a lot of demos and ideas ready and it was going to be a lot of post-production work and a lot of overdubs on the record, but then from the songs took on a life of their own and it felt like that wasn’t necessarily the direction that we were going in.
“I think every time we make a record, for me it becomes quite consuming. You spent however many months working on it – writing it, recording it, listening to it quite compulsively.”
Was it the first time that you worked with two producers at the same time?
Yeah, it was. In our third record [2008’s Intimacy] we worked with two producers, but separately.
What are the challenges and the advantages of working with two producers at the same time?
It was definitely a good experience because Tim and Roy are very different and they both have their own kind of skills and specialties. Roy comes from a more electronic music background and he does a lot more programming and that side of things. Some days we would be in the room, when we had recorded parts, programming things on top of them and coming at them from that direction. Whereas Tim comes from another direction, he’s a lot more live music performance and so he would be in live room with me working on guitar sounds and kind of supervising the performances. It kind of worked well. Even though they come from different backgrounds they generally kind of agreed and had the same opinions on most things. It was not like they were arguing or something like that. Obviously too many opinions can be a bad thing but having two different opinions on what you’re doing, and two opinions that you trust, was a good thing. As a band we always had the live music element and an interest in the electronic music so to have those two bases covered was definitely good for us.
Last year Silent Alarm celebrated its tenth anniversary. How do you look back to that particular moment in the band’s history and what you’ve been through since?
Ten years is a long time in the music industry. It feels like another lifetime, it feels so long ago and so many things have happened in the band and in our private lives. It’s hard to take a step back and assess everything that’s happened in the course of ten years. But I can look back on that time when the record came out fondly on a lot of those times.
You’ve announced, a few hours ago in fact, 20+ dates in the US and Europe.
Did I?
Yeah, I saw it on the band’s website.
That’s news to me. [laughs] I need to have a look after.
Do you have any idea of how much touring will take place in support of Hymns?
Evidently I don’t. [laughs] We certainly going to tour to promote this album, play festivals and everything, but I think a little less than in the past because almost every record that we’ve put out we did like two years of touring. I mean, I love touring but I think it’s quite detrimental to your health and your family. There’s something to be said in having a balance between your private life and your life as band touring all the time. We’ll certainly be touring, but I would be surprised if it was quite intensive as has been in the past.