Kele - The Boxer

4.0

0.0 (0)

His Middle East sojourn now seeming like a distant memory, the debut solo offering from the Bloc Party frontman mixes butt-shaking grooves with sparse electronics and a typically stirring vocal performance.

Whilst his main act have previously dipped their toes in the water with electronic experimentation, Kele Okereke's 'The Boxer' dives headfirst into the digital fray with some intriguing and ultimately satisfying results.

The album's opening three tracks represent the most vivid experimentation here, with bass heavy production from****change serving to enhance the thumping material. 'On The Lam' skips along with the nascent attitude of a bassline house track, whilst lead single 'Tenderoni' is a brutally effective electro stomper. Later on, the intimate vocal delivery and angular melodies on tracks such as 'Unholy Thoughts' and ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ tread more familiar ground and would not be out of place alongside some of Bloc Party's back catalogue.

Although the voice is unmistakably Kele, the switching of guitars and drums for samplers and drum machines works brilliantly, offering substantially more than simply filler between band albums. ‘The Boxer' should manage to keep both ravers and the Bloc Party diehards satisfied in equal measure.

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