SPECIAL REVIEW... Kele - The Boxer

A track by track review of Kele (Okereke) - The Boxer



Walk Tall
A very similar song to Ares, as it's a big opening song with jagged beats. As grimy synths ripple through your eardrums as Kele’s voice comes in and out of menacing sounds this basically sets the overall electronic tone of the album with a synth bass line at various speeds together with a kick and clap drum beat.
Out Of 10: 7/10

On The Lam
This song from the off is just garage, garage all over it, his vocals are the oddest I have heard! Doesn't really get me going. Easily the worst song on the album, purely because of the vocals, it just makes me cringe. But, it easily redeems itself by being better live, the heavy bass just before the chorus is just brilliant.
Out of 10: 6/10

Tenderoni
From the start this is a club hit. His first single has had much mixed reviews from Bloc Party fans on the forum. Sounds like a instrumental mash up of Bodyrox and Wiley, with Keles vocals over the top. Still, ever since I heard it on Zane Lowe on Radio 1 I have gone from hate, to love. Now? I just love it! Building into a throbbing climax, halting momentarily before kicking back into a massive moment of club euphoria, this will be a vital summer hit, NO WAIT IT IS.
Out of 10: 9/10

The Other Side
According to a Mr Ryan Lamont this track is about his homosexuality and the difficulties he had coming out... Don't know what to make of that but still, the guitar makes this track for me, plus the lyrics, 'It's driving me insane' has been running round my head causing havoc since I have heard it! This track ends with a conga breakdown which is a great ending to a song to remember Kele by!
Out of 10: 9/10

Everything You Wanted
This is so 'It's Not The Things You Say', which isn't bad to be brutally honest. It's a slow jam with piano keys all the way through it. The vocals are typical Bloc Party Kele, you won't feel out of place if you are new to his material. It is therefore quite fitting that it's a love song. Kele's vocal work amazed me again!
Out of 10: 7/10

New Rules On this tune you can really hear that Kele had a lot of fun going through the (no doubt massive) sample libraries of the EMI studio playing around with animal noises and answer phone messages etc. None the less this is another slow song, even slower than the one before it. The harmonious female vocals layered on top of his makes this a chilled evening song.
Out of 10: 8/10

Unholy Thoughts
Reminds me of Bloc Party so bad. Lyrics and vocal melody seem to sound at different stages, that they could slide into each of the three Bloc albums. This is one of the brilliant things Kele can do. Making tunes with a solid indie guitar riffs throughout. Potentially another single I think, especially liked the acoustic guitar break in the middle.
Out of 10: 9/10

Rise
One of the early releases (on his blog), this track has been around a while, still with a xylophone start with more female vocals that evolves into quite the electronic song! Clearing the table for the heaviest drop of the record, which floods the speakers with old skool breaks and positive lyrics "you are stronger than you think, you are strong".
Out of 10: 9/10

All The Things I Could Never Say
Another slow building track with lots of female vocals. He's used those quite a lot, but even though I have a hunch it is synth player, I could be wrong but still. It is a synthetic as much of the album is and has a organ involved in the song! Similar to Ion Square as in it gets bolder and has more layers towards the end of the song. Out of 10: 7/10
Yesterday's Gone
An unexpected closer, as chords merge with a warm synth melody that sounds like a perfect break up song! The beat shifts to an R&B song, this most surprising record ends on an emotive note.
Out of 10: 7/10

Meet Me In The Middle
What seems to be a extra track on download sites, kinda the Letter To My Son to the album, this apparently from a reliable source it has interesting vocal work and funnily enough I made a note that read "U2 similarities African background"
Out of 10: Yea, lets just say 10/10 until I hear otherwise

One Day Of Strength
A decent b-side worth listening to! The odd vocals at the beginning made me annoyed but the jagged guitar and funky drum beats this could so easily of been a Bloc Party song, once again has female vocals. I hardly doubt he will play it live, still it can happen!
Out of 10: 8/10

My overall verdict: From averages of the songs it comes to...
8/10
Dragged down by odd vocals on On The Lam, but redeemed by Rise, Tenderoni, Unholy Thoughts and The Other Side.

Track of the day... Kele - Rise

Kele just won't keep still, after only a few days after Young Legionnaire posted their debut song ont the internet Kele pops up with TWO new songs. Maybe it's to push his project furthur ahead of other Bloc Party side projects, or not. But still a busy week for Bloc Party fans!



Lullaby-like vocals usher in a massive, elated, house-music-style chorus, armed with super-positive words of club encouragement such as "You are stronger than you think", "Up to the light/Brothers and sisters unite". An old-school house singer bolshily takes over vocal duties, singing "I'll take you over", before the song turns into vaguely Daft Punk-esque, edgier territory. Fades out with glistening keys, finishing on an absolute high.

He has also premiered Walk Tall, another track from his debut album on the facebook/blog/myspace site. Below are 3 tracks we so far have.

SPECIAL PREVIEW... Kele - The Boxer

As I'm sure you've heard if you're bothering to read this post, Bloc Party singer Kele Okereke is set to release his first solo album through Wichita / Polydor on June 21. I had the pleasure of being invited to one of the first playbacks at Strongroom studios in East London.

Before I delve into the album track by track or rather my impressions of it here's a bit of background: according to the press release with Bloc Party currently in hiatus, Kele began his sabbatical at the gym, learning to kick-box and settling into the flat he had just bought. As so many before him he too found it difficult to keep his artistic mind at rest and so he booked himself into the EMI recording studios and alas the creative juices were flowing freely: 'It was just me and an engineer. I plugged in synths that I had no idea what they would do. I began programming drum beats, which I had never done before. It was completely back to the drawing board. It was exciting and terrifying. In Most cases I sat down, pulled a drum beat out of nowhere and arranged stuff around that. This was as exciting to me as the first time I picked up a guitar.'

Kele 'visibly' enjoyed being the sole decision maker in blazing a musical trail for this record: 'The key for the sound of the record was to take things as harsh and as physical as I could make it. The reason for going there was that these are the sounds that make me the happiest in the world.'

I was instantly intrigued to read that Kele worked with none other than Brooklyn-based master of the bedroom bedlam XXXchange. Aside from having produced the last Spank Rock record this prodigy has done some amazing remix work for the likes of Santigold, Thom Yorke, Björk, Yeasayer et al - check them out here http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xxxchange+remixes&aq=f
My absolute favourite though still to this day is his take on Deadalus's Make It So out on Ninja Tune (Happy Bday btw - they turn 20 this year!) - KILLER RECORD that graces almost every single one of my (electro house) sets.

So yeah when learning that XXXchange was producing Kele's solo debut I bugged poor Karen over at Radarmaker until she invited me down to one of the listening sessions - here's what I made of it:

WALK TALL
- stets the overall electronic tone of the album with a synth bass line that reminisces of a chain saw at various speeds together with a straight kick and clap drum beat.

ON THE LAM
- surprised me by how different it is to the first track, I mean make no mistake this is an electropop album that spans the bow from straight up electronica to tech to a couple of different house facets and even jungle elements like on this track.

TENDERONI
- is the first single of the album set for release on 14th June and OMG what a stomper! It's incredibly phat thumping mix of kick and bass are instantly infectious and get my feet tapping and my head nodding. This is also the first time I thought I heard the familiar Bloc Party sounding vocals. Maybe it's just that there are a lot of background vocals used throughout the record, but I was really impressed with the range and diversity of Kele's vocal work. The synth line reminds me a little of Wiley's Wearing My Rolex and whether it's just that or not I can't say, but one thing is certain this tune is going to be a floor filler across the nation and the globe.

THE OTHER SIDE
- I guess it was down to having been so excited about the track before that I haven't taken any notes on this tune apart from the carnival rhythm in the second second half of the track that grabbed my attention underneath the repeated lyric "over to the other side"


EVERYTHING YOU WANTED
- is the least electronic and most songful (if that makes sense) tune on the album. It is therefore quite fitting that it's a love song. Kele's vocal work amazed me again at this point as I had to ask the person next to me whether that was still him singing.

NEW RULES
- on this tune you can really hear that Kele had a lot of fun going through the no doubt massive sample libraries of the EMI studio playing around with animal noises and answer phone messages etc.

UNHOLY THOUGHTS
- this is one of the more Bloc Party sounding tunes with a solid indie guitar riffs throughout. Potentially another single me thinks, especially liked the acoustic guitar break in the middle.

RISE
- a xylophone start with more female vocals that evolves into quite the electronic basher crescendo.

ALL THE THINGS I COULD NEVER SAY
- slow building track again with lots of female vocals. He's used those quite a lot, but even though Ben from Wichita was so kind to investigate I still don't know who the female vocals belong to. Not Madonna I've been told.

YESTERDAY'S GONE
- I made absolutely no notes on this one sadly. Sorry.

MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE
- is not part of the official tracklisting so I'm guessing it's the bonus track. Again interesting vocal work and funnily enough I made a note that read "U2 similarities African background" I clearly wasn't fully with it anymore at this stage…

All in all a great sounding record that establishes Kele as a credible solo artist not shy of Thom Yorke stature.