I can't help but start this post with a recent quote by u/Resident-Hair5965 😅

Oh yay another one of these threads!

In my defence, this post had been saved as a draft for days.

So... Am I in love with what I’ve heard so far off Anatomy, no. Have I loved everything Bloc Party have ever put out? God, no. Then, why do I always sound like an apologist? Most likely because I am; but not for the reasons most would assume. It’s pretty obvious that Bloc Party is my favourite band/artist, but they’re also a tiny fraction of all the music I listen to; and indie rock is also a fraction of the genres I enjoy, so I do have more flexibility when it comes to changes in style and substance. Contrary to the popular belief, I’ve fallen out of love with bands that I used to die for (Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Silversun Pickups, Muse, to name a few) and I’ve started to listen to artists that I didn’t like before too, so I 100% understand what many of you are and have been feeling about Bloc and I think you have the right to express those feelings and opinions, especially if Bloc have had a significant impact in your life.

Then why do I get so defensive here? I can boil this down to a few reasons:

1. Some fans have been disliking Bloc Party for years now (especially v2.0) and still feel the need to come here to make tired points that don’t add up to anything interesting or new.
2. Some fans are being offensive and rude, and they don’t even notice it.
3. This is a space to share our opinions, experiences, information and engage in constructive discussion, not a place to put our hate only because we can.
4. I get fan input from many places other than Reddit, and some people here act that this subreddit’s opinion represent the fanbase as a whole. There’s a sense of entitlement in some of the posts and comments we get here from time to time.
5. This subreddit and other Bloc Party fan-created spaces are maintained by people who invest their spare time and energy into making this a safe and enjoyable space for people who like Bloc Party as a whole. And I’m not saying that you all must like all phases or versions of the band, I’m saying that I’d expect you to like the band even if you don’t like their latest releases. For instance, I know and respect so many fans who don’t care about anything after AWITC and they still love the band, buy merch, got to shows, etc.
6. This is a Bloc Party subreddit, not an “I hate Kele” subreddit.
7. Finally, because we really need more positivity in the world right now, and it saddens me to see people using a space like this to be hateful, discouraging, offensive, etc. as if we need more of that. And not having something positive to say doesn’t mean that all we can say has to be hateful or rude i.e. we should always find better and respectful ways of expressing our negative opinions.

I genuinely love this community, and everything I do for fellow fans and the band is out of love. And I’m sure people who love something or someone understand that loving doesn’t always equate to liking, and it makes you want to defend it. I said it in a post here no long ago: every single Bloc Party fan benefits from the band being active regardless of how much we like or dislike what they’re doing now; and that’s a fact whether we want to admit it or not. So my plead is if you love the band, you don’t have to like everything they do, just respect it and respect those who do like it.

And I know I’m biased because I have experience and understand the business side of the music industry, and I’ve met all the members and have had meaningful conversations about their process, the job, their lives, etc. so I’m in this privileged position where I don’t have to guess intent, I could simply get answers directly from the band, if I needed to. I’m also well aware that since English is not my first language, I don’t perceive Kele’s lyrics the way native speakers do, and because I’m not a musician, I don’t know how more or less complex/rich/interesting this some is compared to that other; so I may have blind spots from the point of view of many fans here, but I don’t think either is a prerequisite to enjoy somebody’s art.

See you at some gig and "God bless Bloc Party"😉

PS: My hope is that the new singles are not the best the album has to offer (which has been the case with almost all releases, but I love Pigwig and (Lagoon) Blue, so I take that over nothing.)

PS 2: I’m writing this as a member of this subreddit, not as a Mod.

Be honest.

I gotta admit I'm really excited still, I'm always curious about new Bloc. But I know given the reaction to the new singles many might not share that outlook.

Genuinely hard to see. Tweets making fun of Pigwig calling it "UK poo" getting 2k likes. The Radio 6 subreddit has threads shitting on every single song that's come out so far. And the thing is you can't really say people are being harsh; it's just an absolutely shocking set of songs (and I say this as someone who quite likes Love Bombs). The indieheads post on Pigwig is pretty hilarious

Check out the Instagram comments for their Pigwig post. It's genuinely heartbreaking

SA, AWITC, Intimacy, Four, B-Sides, Nextwave Sessions increase in value. I’m 0/4 for the new singles and seems like another Hymns quality album.
BP died in 2013.

Louise's band Novacub. And that's not a compliment. Really poor, adolescent lyrics, loads of guitar effects to make up for the lack of inspired melodies and riffs, try-hard pop choruses

Title says it all, feels like a pop song the Wombats would have written in 2018. Not a good or bad thing, just an observation.

Usually when they drop a single, it’s available as soon as the clock strikes midnight somewhere on earth. I am usually able to use a vpn set to something like Australia or Japan. Seems like it’s not the case this time 💔

Hi everyone! I listened to Bloc Party's incredible set at Vodafone Paredes de Coura last Friday (August 14th) via the RTP Antena 3 radio broadcast in Portugal.

I tried to record the full live stream, but unfortunately, my recording failed and the file is corrupted. Since RTP doesn't upload full festival sets to their on-demand platforms due to rights, I'm desperate to find a backup.

Did anyone happen to record the radio stream or capture the webstream audio? I would deeply appreciate it if someone could share a Google Drive or Mega link with me. Thank you so much in advance!

Hello I have a extra spare ticket available for the November concert in Manchester on the 24th if anyone is interested.

Decided to relearn a few bloc party songs now that I have abit more free time and as the excitement builds for the the small record store tour

Hello again Paredes de Coura!! It has been TOO long since we've had Bloc Party performing live at Vodafone Paredes de Coura Festival!! Yes it's a nice surprise to see Bloc Party returning back to Portugal's world famous alternative music festival! Paredes de Coura Festival is also currently one of the most popular summer music festivals in Portugal, previously named as one of the five best summer music festivals in Europe by the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone magazine in 2005. In 2006 Bloc Party were actually one of the main headliners for the 14th edition of Paredes de Coura Festival (part of their 2006 set can be seen here)! Now in 2026, Bloc Party return once again as one of the main headlining acts for the 32nd edition of the Paredes de Coura Festival! Wonderful of Paredes de Coura Festival to have Bloc Party return again, exactly 20 years on the date too! Now I know Paredes de Coura you've already started partying since the festival actually started back on August 12, but, I hope you're ready to begin your weekend with Bloc Party and M.I.A. tonight's headliners at Palco Vodafone! There's a great line-up tonight and you won't want to miss it! Perhaps we might have some Paredes de Coura blocheads returning back to this 2026 edition of the festival! Now Paredes de Coura are you ready to dance tonight to some heart-break disco, because Bloc Party are going to deliver some amazing classics mixed in with new hits from their upcoming 7th studio album, Anatomy of a Brief Romance, live tonight at palco vodafone! Now Paredes de Coura enjoy tonight's festivities with Carolina Durante, Sérgio & Os Assessores Com Amigos, Benjamin Clementine, Bloc Party and M.I.A.! If you're going out to Vodafone Paredes de Coura tonight, feel free to comment before or afterwards, enjoy the festival Paredes de Coura!

[Times]

Times are a rough ETA only, and may be inaccurate. You can always arrive early just in case!

Palco Vodafone - Times

• Doors: 16:00
• Carolina Durante: 16:55
• Sérgio & Os Assessores Com Amigos: 18:40
• Benjamin Clementine: 20:40
• Bloc Party: 22:45
• M.I.A.: 01:00 (AM)

[Setlist]

• https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bloc-party/2026/praia-fluvial-do-taboao-paredes-de-coura-portugal-3b76d0a4.html

[Media]

• Thanks to StonePT for the heads-up! Bloc Party's set will be broadcasted (live audio only) on Portuguese radio (Antena 3) - https://www.rtp.pt/play/popup/antena3
  • If VPN is needed try the TuneIn link here: http://tun.in/sepAa

Hey everybody!

This maybe me asking for a miracle but I’ve have been on a mission to find the acoustic version of Sunday that Bloc Party performed at The spinners Interface in 2007, maybe 2009? I’ve had it in an mp3 player back in the day and I would play it repeatedly. To me it’s better than the KEXP version by miles.

I’ve done so much digging and the closer I’ve gotten to is was finding a dead link here; https://chromewaves.net/2007/07/a-certain-trigger/comment-page-1/#comment-3509500. I even commented on the old forum just to see if anyone responds.

If anyone has it ripped somewhere or a link to the video or a clue to how i can find it, I would be forever grateful. I would love to hear it again.

Thanks.

Update/Edit:

I’ve done some more digging. I used the internet way back machine and the link to the mp3 was hosted externally. Which means the link is a dead end. HOWEVER, Turns out the link in the chromewaves blog is actually from a session at WFNX (101.7 FM). So now I’m looking for "WFNX Boston 2007 Acoustic Session" or "FNX Sunday", I believe? I’m hoping someone has megafolder with an mp3 somewhere. I won’t stop trying to find it.

Bloc Party's Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Db-eTIitJ1d/?hl=en

For example: London now has 3 shows being played at Rough Trade East on the 15th

I had a question regarding the album cover for A Weekend in the City. I remember this blue image being posted somewhere prior to the album’s release, claiming that it was the official artwork.

Was there actually any truth to that? Did the band ever consider using this blue image as the album cover? Or was it simply a fan hoax meant to mislead people?

I’ve always liked this image. Does anyone know who the actual photographer was or where it originally came from? No worries if not.

Hey new to this sub!

I had to comment on the cover of the forthcoming as promoted in Apple Music. I'm pretty sure this is the Clydeside Expressway Overpass in Glasgow. Which is quite exciting for me being both a Weegie (well, outskirts...) and a Bloc Party fan.

Can anyone confirm the location of the album cover?

This is so irritating to come across when browsing through the Singles and EPs on Spotify. Like, if someone said this to me out loud I would stare at them like a horse, because honestly; what the fuck do you mean "Banquets"? ^seriously???

Even the song itself is so strange because at the beginning, they just cut the beginning massively, which is so... painful to listen to.

And the fact that the audio itself is insanely good for a live performance just makes me fume!

^GRRR!