Bloc Party: Four

"Kele Okereke, the lead singer of Bloc Party, transmits at a steady frequency, making few distinctions between the mundane and the epic. The songs on 'Four,' the band’s new jolt of stylized catharsis, attempt to engage with issues both personal and sociopolitical. ... The band has managed to outlast the postpunk-revival boomlet from which it emerged, diversifying its sound (up to a point) and broadening its focus (likewise). 'Four,' produced by Alex Newport, still has the vertiginous pulse and snarling riffs that have been Bloc Party trademarks since the band’s breakout 2005 debut. At times, as on 'Octopus,' this album’s hyper-caffeinated lead single, it’s the surface details that seem to matter most. Then again, 'Four' opens with 'So He Begins to Lie,' a reflection on the fraudulent undertow of celebrity. ... And on 'Coliseum' Mr. Okereke yelps some kind of declaration — 'The empire never ended!' — at a pivotal moment, just before the volume cranks up, and the drums and distortion kick in. ... On 'V.A.L.I.S.,' apparently inspired by the philosophically minded Philip K. Dick novel of the same title, Mr. Okereke imagines a dystopian future version of himself. 'You gotta show me the way,' he implores, over a crisply propulsive new-wave beat" (Nate Chinen, "New Music," New York Times, 8/20/12).

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