British indie heavyweights Bloc Party will release their sixth album, Alpha Games, in April 2022.
Alpha Games is Bloc Party’s first album in more than six years. Their previous release, Hymns, came out through the Dew Process label in January 2016. The London quartet, led by songwriter and vocalist Kele Okereke, have also shared the album’s first single, ‘Traps‘.
Of the new single, Okereke had this to say: “From the moment we wrote ‘Traps’, we knew it had to be the first thing people heard from this album; playing it in soundchecks on our last tour before it was finished and hearing how it sounded in those big rooms and outdoors.”
‘Traps’ will likely please fans of Bloc Party’s early years, making use of the frenetic, angular indie rock template that underpinned much of the band’s debut album, 2005’s Silent Alarm.
The new album – which is due to arrive on Friday, 22nd April – was produced by Adam “Atom” Greenspan and Nick Launay. The pair recently handled production on IDLES’ Ultra Mono, Anna Calvi’s Hunter and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Wrong Creatures.
In the lead up to Hymns, Okereke and lead guitarist Russell Lissack parted ways with fellow founding members, drummer Matt Tong and bass player Gordon Moakes. Justin Harris replaced Moakes and Louise Bartle joined in place of Tong. Alpha Games will be the first Bloc Party album to feature Bartle’s drumming.
