I’m not sure if Bloc Party is doing themselves any favors titling their new EP The Nextwave Sessions. First, titles like these usually imply a special release that only hardcore fans, focused on completing their Bloc Party collection, would flock to. The casual fan might see this as another form of the dreaded “remix” album. Second, didn’t these guys just wrap up a big tour with the announcement of an extended, and possibly indefinite, hiatus? An EP with the word “Sessions” in it might make one believe there is a future for the band. It could also be a shallow shill of leftover tracks. Either way The Nextwave Sessions are a head scratcher.
Nextwave isn’t the same rambling oddity that Four was. Then again, it’s only five songs. If you thought Bloc Party had wandered off the reservation on Four, just wait until you hear “Ratchet”. While not an awful song, it’s certainly not the depression driven work that Bloc Party specialized in post 2007’s A Weekend In The City. “Ratchet” is upbeat, jangly, and fun. It could be the band finding relief in walking away, or it could be them trying to pen an arena crowd-pleaser for their probable return. I could see thousands of kids jumping up and down and yelling “Let’s get ratchet”.
“Obscene” is back to the slow balled for. This is a love song, but one buffed to a high shine with synthesizers and lazy drum machines. Kelee Okereke might not possess the typical idea of a ballad voice, eg David Gahan, he gets by with an urgent sense of vulnerability. Okereke really means it, and he wants you to understand just how much he means it.
Ballads really make up the best tracks on Nextwave. Like “Obscene”, “Montreal” is another slow jam, though it’s a little more straightforward. Imagine the awkward slow dance during a High School prom, or the montage scenes of melancholic hipsters feeling the pain of unrequited love in a new indie film blowing up the festival circuit, that’s the “Montreal” vibe. “Obscene” is a great apology song for your wounded girlfriend. “Montreal” will probably get you laid.
I give Bloc Party credit for compiling a varied batch of songs, but I can’t consider myself a fan of The Nextwave Sessions. “Obscene” and “Montreal” are keepers, and “Ratchet” is fun, albeit stupid fun. Even “French Exit” and “Children Are The Future” have moments of uppity pop excellence. That being said, The Nextwave Sessions adds nothing to the Bloc Party canon. It’s not a bad record, it’s not a great record. That indifference is usually the death knell for any band.
At one point Bloc Party handed their fans some really interesting ideas, hidden under unbelievably catchy tunes. Between Four, and The Nextwave Sessions, their impactful output is waning. It might be better if the indefinite hiatus for Bloc Party remained that way.
