Live Review // Kele

For me, Bloc Party were one of the bands that sound-tracked my transition from home-town to University. Produced my the inimitable Paul Epworth, their debut album Silent Alarm was both stuffed full of atmosphere and tension, but most importantly some of the most remix-friendly tracks to come out of the quasi-post punk movement. For all it wants to, Justice’s remix of ‘The Fallen’ can’t compete with most of Silent Alarm Remixed or any of the standalone remixes produced. While their following two albums continued in a similar vein, with the band now on a possibly never-ending hiatus lead singer Kele Okereke is preparing a debut album, The Boxer, for release on 21st June.

Kicking off with ‘Walk Tall’, Kele is joyous on stage, bouncing around with enthusiasm not seen in his performances as Bloc Party in many, many years. It’s clear that here he is enjoying himself, be that by being the sole focus of attention or by being entirely in control of the musical output is anyone’s guess. As he flows across album tracks such as ‘On The Lam’, ‘Meet Me In The Middle’, and ‘Everything You Wanted’, it becomes clear how distinctive Kele’s vocal delivery is. Taking away the instrumentation any and all of these tracks could be Bloc Party ones, wrapping Gordon’s bass through, a hint of light, angular guitar from Russell, and perhaps a strong drumbeat from Matt. In fact, the difference between Kele’s solo material the material produced by Bloc Party becomes even more blurred when he breaks in to a three song medley of Bloc Party tracks, featuring ‘Blue Light’, ‘Hunting For Witches’, and ‘One More Chance’. Layering sections of the now familiar vocals over sparse electronic beats, Kele breathes new life into classic material. Following the three-track mix with debut solo single ‘Tenderoni’ begs the question; is Kele relying on older, successful material to carry his solo stuff?

Sure, The Boxer is a great album in its own right, but would it be gaining the attention it is without Kele’s previous work in Bloc Party? Of course not. Yet by performing their songs live, Kele is reinforcing the fact that he can’t live without Bloc Party. As much as a permanent split looks more and more likely, Kele continues to rely on old material from a now possibly broken-up band to bolster a live set that is meant to promote his solo work. Coming back on stage for an encore he again relies on Bloc Party material to secure a strong finale, playing Intimacy track ‘Your Visits Are Getting Shorter’ followed by the floor-filling ‘Flux’ instead of the set-listed ‘All The Things I Could Never Say’ from The Boxer. A missed opportunity to really showcase the artistic split from his self-proclaimed “old band”, Kele’s debut live show on UK soil still manages to succeed, but only by leaning heavily on older material and well-trodden paths.

Kele’s debut solo album, The Boxer, is out on 21st June through Wichita Records. You can listen to three tracks from the LP below, including lead single ‘Tenderoni’.