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Bloc Party cause havoc for new video for 'Kettling'
Tuesday 9th October 2012 | David
No one can argue that Bloc Party haven’t had a hard time. After all, three years ago the band might have been over, as following the release of their third album Intimacy, they no longer had a recording contract and the idea of a fourth album seemed like a long shot.
However, following lead singer Kele Okereke’s solo work, as well as various side projects by other members of the band during their hiatus, Bloc Party returned in August with Four, a new album that marked a return to the guitar-heavy sound of their earlier work.
Their new single, ‘Kettling’, is an unashamedly aggressive song inspired by the global civil unrest of 2011. Okereke says: “There was so much going on in the world in 2011... you couldn’t turn on the television without seeing pictures of people protesting or rioting or mass disarray. Of course those are quite frightening images. But there’s also something quite poetic about people standing up and saying they’ve had enough of something; that no, they will not take this any more. That’s what the song was really about.”
The video for the song is just as confrontational as its message. Filmed in a south London primary school, it sees a playground in conflict as everyone’s favorite school yard game ‘British Bulldog’ gets a little out of hand. It’s easy to see why this game is banned in many schools thanks to director James Lees’ focus on the physicality, and damage, caused by the game.
‘Kettling’ is appropriately confrontational, thanks to the surging guitar riffs and Okereke’s unmistakable vocal. The song is far heavier than fans may be used to, a fact that could show the progression of Bloc Party since their calm beginnings with 2005’s Silent Alarm.
Have a look at the video below (kids have never been scarier), and catch the band on tour this month.
October
12 Newcastle O2 Academy
13 Leeds Academy
15 Birmingham O2 Academy
17 Southampton Guildhall
18 Bristol O2 Academy
19 Manchester Warehouse Project
20 Cambridge Corn Exchange
By David Pratt
