Kele Okereke on the return of Bloc Party: "We get restless on the road"

2 December 2021, 20:04 | Updated: 3 December 2021, 11:21

Kele Okereke talks the new Bloc Party tune Traps

The frontman has been telling Radio X about the making of the band's new single Traps.

By Radio X

Bloc Party have announced their sixth studio album, Alpha Games will arrive in April 2022, with the lead single, Traps, out now.

Frontman Kele Okereke has been telling Radio X that the new song grew out of an idea that was developed in soundcheck when the band were on their Silent Alarm revival tour in 2018/19.

"We've always been a band that gets quite restless on the road," Kele told Radio X's George Godfrey. "We've been very lucky when it comes to being motivated, so this was an idea that came out of a jam."

Bloc Party - Traps (Official Audio)

"We stuck with it, and it kind of evolved over the months that we were playing it. I've lots of memories of being all over the world, in America and Europe, fine tuning that song and a handful of others. It was a baseline that Justin [Harris] had and it kind of became something else."

So the tour that saw Bloc Party play their debut album Silent Alarm in full turned out to be fruitful - but Kele wasn't sure whether the concept of returning to old material would work out.

He admitted: "I was slightly hesitant about it I guess, as I'm not someone who likes to look backwards. It seemed to make sense at the time, but as it got closer I got nervous about it."

However, the response from audiences surprised the musician.

"It was a real joy to re-learn those songs and play them to people and to see how it had affected them.

"It took me back, to 2003-4 when we were writing the record. It was surprisingly emotional for me, that whole experience."