Bloc Party have today (June 30) shared an emotive new single called ‘Love Bombs’ – you can listen to it below.
It’s the latest track taken from their upcoming new album, ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’, which they have previously described as their most personal record to date. ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ is set for release on September 11 on the new record label cOnTAGIOUS LTD (via Virgin Music Group). Visit here to pre-order.
The track follows on in theme from previously released single, ‘Coming On Strong’, and continues to explore themes of love. “I want to cool you down / I want to rough you up / I want to crawl all over you, most of the time,” frontman Kele Okereke sings on the synth-led new track.
“At the start of a new relationship our feelings of connection can make us do dramatic things,” Okereke said of the song.
“‘Love Bombs’ is the sound of a new love flowering, in beautiful romantic gestures. But under the surface is the ever present fear that maybe this new love, although shiny and great, maybe this new love might not last forever.”
Listen to the new song here:
The new record comes as a “chronological portrait of a love affair, and progresses right from the first glances through to the heartbreak and final farewell”. It marks the seventh album from Bloc Party, following on from 2022’s ‘Alpha Games’.
Spread out across 14 songs and produced by Trevor Horn (Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood), the record is structured like a memoir from frontman Okereke and features some of the most personal songs he has ever written.
“Every lyric you’re hearing on this record was something that actually happened to me. I had to tell the story, from start to finish,” he said, explaining how it was written after he separated from the father of his children after over a decade, and unexpectedly met someone and fell in love again.
“Having this romance, this new thing emerge, it kept me sane, in a very dark time,” he shared, adding that he now feels “less prudish about sex and connection and intimacy” and has “no qualms talking about it, because that connection is important”.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that candid in the past,” he continued, also adding that the record captures intimate details like inside-jokes, vicious barbs, and heavy emotions.
Last spring, Okereke told NME about what fans could expect from their upcoming seventh album, sharing that it would be “disco heartbreak” inspired.
“It’s a record about heartbreak, really – that’s the only thing I can say about it at this stage. Hopefully it will be out next year, but we’ll see,” he said, also going on to share what it was like to work with iconic producer Trevor Horn.
“He’s made some of my favourite records of all time, so it’s quite interesting to hear what he has to say. He’s been making records for most of his life, for over 50 years, so he seems to know all the tricks. He seems to know everyone as well and have a story about everyone.”
This March, Bloc Party used their slot at BBC 6 Music Festival to debut three new songsfrom their upcoming album live.
The first was the newly released ‘Coming On Strong’, and they followed this with ‘Love Bombs’ – a synth-led anthem about overbearing romantic love – and finally ‘Pigwig’, which sounds like a catchy, classic indie-rock track.
Later this year, Bloc Party will be joining Muse on their North American tour, before heading on a UK and EU co-headline tour with Interpol in the autumn.