Bloc Party In A State Of Flux

You've probably already got the studio version but this is a live version of the new Bloc Party single that's been making the rounds over the last few days. The radio rip is fairly different to this version, from the American TV show 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien'. Although that's mainly because the vocals in this version are a bit rubbish - they are meant to be a bit vocodered but that doesn't come off great here. It doesn't help that Kele doesn't sing into the mic at the start.

Anyways, if you haven't heard it already, the new non-album single 'Flux' is erm, an electro ballad?! It's a bit weird. Reminds me of when Stereophonics came up with something a bit different (and surprisingly good) out of the blue with 'Dakota'. I suppose 'The Prayer' had a similar vibe, away from "vintage" Bloc Party. The jury seems to be out on 'Flux' however, with ardent fans championing it and others claiming it sounds "like Sash". Some are in between and disgruntled about Jacknife Lee's (who also produced 'A Weekend In The City') production, and also feel the band are moving in the wrong direction.


Photo courtesy of NBC.com

On the other hand, I like it for its poppiness. Then again, I also liked Sash. It is radio-friendly and I would have thought its purpose was simply to generate interest in 'AWITC', which seems to have been suffering flagging sales. But they could have just released 'Waiting For The 7.18' which would have done the job just as well really. Unless someone is thinking electro is "in" and now's the time to grab people's attention...

Bloc Party - Flux [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link]

'Flux' will be released on November 12th, with 'Emma Kate's Accident' and 'The Once And Future King' as b-sides. Bloc Party will be doing a handful of UK dates in December.
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Thanks for voting in the BT DMAs if you did, god knows what the results were as they don't seem to be doing a Top 50 like last year. We can only hope I beat Lemar's blog this time around at least. Consider my new podcast as a present, download here [link].

Oh and wowzers at the rugby today, have you ever actually seen Paul Sackey and Kele Bloc Party in the same place together? Multi talented bloke.