New kid the Bloc ON
There have been a number of upheavals in the Bloc Party camp at various times in the past decade with the announcement of two indefinite hiatuses and the exit of half of its founding members.
The band, which formed in London in 1999, saw the departure of drummer Matt Tong in 2013 followed by bass player Gordon Moakes in 2015, leaving singer/ guitarist Kele Okereke and lead guitarist Russell Lissack to soldier on.
Justin Harris replaced Moakes. Drummer Alex Thomas joined temporarily, and they returned with 2016 album Hymns, a necessarily transitional sounding record. Fans stayed largely on board and the album entered the UK charts at No.12.
Alpha Games, their sixth album, shows they have weathered the storms. It went into the UK top 10 on its release two weeks ago. The quality of songs sometimes reaches that of their first two albums 2005’s Silent Alarm and A Weekend In The City which appeared two years later. Okereke’s lyrics this time explore the inequities in British society, racism post George Floyd, the judicial system, and his own sexuality. Okereke is in a same-sex partnership and has two children.
Louise Bartle – who previously played drums on Bloc Party’s US shows and who is a member of Lissack’s offshoot project Novatub – climbed aboard the mothership in late 2015.
Good drummers are a bit like goalkeepers – you only really miss the old one if the new one is poor.
There was little chance of that with Bartle. Bloc Party’s latest addition was an experienced session player who boasts brief stints with Selena Gomez and Eliza Doolittle on her CV. MusicRadar website named her ‘one of the 10 best drummers in the world right now’ in 2017. When I tell her this, she sounds slightly bemused.
‘Who was it? MusicRadar? Aww… That’s nice. I always take these things with an erm… I know so many incredible drummers but I’ll take it,’ she says.
‘I used to want to be the best technical drummer in the world. Now I want to be the most creative. This is going to sound very grand, but I want to be iconic.’
Bartle always wanted to play drums but her parents preferred her to try something a little bit more genteel. ‘My parents thought, “Wait what? Why can’t it be a more reserved instrument?” So I did have to learn the clarinet. I also had some guitar lessons. I had to do that to prove that I wanted to play the drums. They could see I was bashing away on the tables… it was like I was doing a little drum solo every time. Eventually, they were like, “Fine, whatever, you can start”. It isn’t just the drums, I love harmonies. I can sing a bit as well.’
She adds backing vocals to some of the new tracks. Her role with Bloc Party is a permanent one, but she and
‘Good drummers are like goalkeepers – you only miss the old one if the new one is poor’
Lissack still keep Novacub simmering. When joining Bloc Party, she says she was aware that some fans might not accept her, as Tong was a personality in his own right, not merely someone who kept the band in time. ‘I definitely felt a pressure of expectation,’ she says. ‘I’ve been a fan of bands who have lost members and who got new ones in and it’s not that there is an instinct to be against the new person – it’s the devastation that someone you loved in band doesn’t play with them anymore.’
‘I had a bit of a crisis of confidence for a while after I joined. I was in my early twenties, still trying to figure out who I am,’ the 27-year-old says.
‘I think it would have been difficult for anyone replacing someone who was really good, who was loved. I’ve read a few things and there was a bit of resentment but I’ve realised it’s not personal. It has been good for me in way. It’s made me develop a thicker skin.’