Kele - The Boxer (Review)

It came as no surprise that late last autumn, UK indie outfit Bloc Party decided to hang up their guitars for a much needed break. With his time off Kele Okereke took time to purchase his first apartment and sign up for kick-boxing lessons… I suppose its important to keep busy.

Trying new things seems to be the current mantra of Kele as he decided to enter unfamiliar musical surrounding, working with synths and programming drum machines for the first time in his life. Kele’s debut offers 10 robust tracks that owe more to the dance floor than the indie rock stage, which I think doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Its hard to completely detach from a band as diverse as Bloc Party.

A distinctive Bloc Party beat feels like the back bone of much of this record. Bloc Party’s “flux” seemingly a stepping stone to this diverse debut. It’s not all mechanical beats, oscillating sequencers and Auto-Tune voices, however. Everything You Wanted, with its stirring chorus and one-note piano, might be prime Bloc Party; Unholy Thoughts welds a Peter Hook-esque bass line to a breathless pop-rock chassis (part Depeche Mode, part early Talk Talk), and New Rules is a pared-back essay for muted electronic string arpeggios, the disembodied voice of a telephone operator and a sweet, high octave duet vocal from Jodie Scantlebury.

The first release “Tenderoni” has a distinctive bodyrox influence, yet it seems to have much more meaning than your standard dance floor affair. You could quite easily find yourself on the dance floor enjoying the lyrics as much as the deep running electronic harmonics. There are aspects of the album where the tracks move at a more melodic pace. Slowing proceedings down and once more you begin leaning towards the skip track button. This album delivers such enticing high paced beats, you find your body craving another excuse to replay the same track once again. Luckily the album does have much repeatability to it. This is truly a record that will take some time to grow tired of.

All in all, this is a persuasive solo debut, confident, innovative and brimming with hooks. “You are stronger than you think,” goes the chorus to the stirring Rise, and it could be the solo Okereke’s mantra-to-self. On this evidence, don’t expect any Bloc Party activity any day soon.

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