WHO IS HE? The singer-guitarist and leader of long-running British post-punk indie-rockers Bloc Party — who generally drops his last name Okereke for his extracurricular activities.
WHAT IS THIS? His fourth solo disc and most ambitiously experimental album to date, the hour-long masterwork 2042 aims to meld the electronic dance music of previous solo albums with the alt-rock edge of his day job — while adding hefty portions of everything from future-funk and African grooves to noisy guitars and lyrics that blend personal stories with political activism.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? The album Bloc Party might have made between 2007’s urban-dystopia concept piece A Weekend in the City and 2008’s electro-romance Intimacy.
WHAT SHOULD IT BE TITLED? A Year of Living Dangerously. Or perhaps Ahead of Him Time.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? Well, definitely not after listening to the family-centric folk-based sounds of 2017s intimate Fatherland.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Adventurous, diverse, eclectic, topical, cerebral, compassionate, critical, committed, literate, urgent.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SONGS? The slinky Afrofunk of opening cut Jungle Bunny; the Talking Heads groover My Business; the ominously shuffling Me and My Maker; the hard-bouncing throb and noise of Cyril’s Blood.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS SAY? ‘I don’t know if Bloc Party are planning to make another album — but it would have to be freaking amazing to equal this.’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? Many of these songs possess musical, sonic and lyrical depths that both require and reward repeated listening.
IF THIS ALBUM WERE AN ARCHITECTURAL STYLE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Postmodern.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL IT? If you only want to own one of his solo albums, this is the one — at least until the next one.
