Bloc Party have revealed they're on the lookout for a new singer for their upcoming album recording after parting ways with their successful frontman Kele Okereke.
"It's not really a secret because Kele's been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he's going to be doing that a bit longer," lead guitarist Russell Lissack told NME Magazine.
"The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows."
Confirming that there had been no contact with the band’s former
frontman, he added: “I haven’t spoken to Kele for a couple of months, I
guess since the festivals when I was doing stuff with Ash. But there’s
no bad vibes”.
The announcement shouldn't really come as a suprise – Okereke recently revealed to NME that he had fears about his posiiton in the band.
"I hope I haven't been fired," Okereke said, claiming that during a recent visit to New York, he stumbled
on a covert gathering by Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack, bassist
Gordon Moakes and drummer Matt Tong.
"I was actually having lunch about
three weeks ago, just here on 8th Avenue and I saw somebody walk past
and I recognised the haircut. It was Russell. I was like, 'Hey!', but
he didn't see me and I followed him around the corner and then I saw
Matt, Gordon and Russell all standing outside this rehearsal space.
They all went inside."
"I don't really know what's going on," Okereke continued. "We haven't really spoken recently and I'm a bit too scared to ask."
Whether or not the band will continue to use the Bloc Party moniker remains to be seen. Often when a frontman leaves a group, there's a decision to change the name – think Rage Against the Machine without Zach de la Rocha (Audioslave) or Guns N Roses with Axl Rose (Velvet Revolver – although there were legal issues involved with that one).
Meanwhile, Okereke has announced details of a one-off London show to mark the October 31 release of his new EP The Hunter. He will play London's Brixton Electric on November 7.
The EP's lead track What Did I Do, which debuted on September 12. The EP also has Okereke collaborate with a number of
artists including Sub Focus, QNESS, Fred Falke and RAC.
