Bloc Party - The High Life

Given the sheer level of praise given to debut ‘Silent Alarm’ on its release - and the following two decades, usually at the dismissal of anything the band have released since - it’s little wonder that Bloc Party might have had a complicated relationship with their back catalogue. ‘The High Life’ - a four-track self-styled ‘stop gap’ between full-length records - however, pleasingly sounds as if they’ve reckoned with the past, present and are eagerly anticipating the future. The title track - premiered during their stint in arenas earlier this year with Paramore - is a full-circle moment, its upbeat - and most importantly, fun-filled - funk bounce not dissimilar from that of the Americans’ own ‘After Laughter’ after they cited the Londoners as a key influence on latest ‘This Is Why’. KennyHoopla, whose early math-rock indebted tracks and deadpan delivery was often compared to the foursome injects energy into ‘Keep It Rolling’, while ‘Blue’ manages to recall the sprawling epic of ‘So Here We Are’ without nostalgia. As intricate, emotional and dextrous as ever, it seems being a little less serious suits Bloc Party after all.