Earlier this year, Bloc Party’s debut LP Silent Album celebrated its tenth anniversary, and unlike most of the “modern indie” records of the mid-2000s, it holds up pretty well. In the decade that followed, the British guitar rock band seemed to constantly chase that initial glory, releasing a series of uneven albums and recently seeing the departure of two key figures: bassist Gordon Moakes and drummer extraordinaire Matt Tong.
Earlier this morning in England, frontman Kele Okereke introduced the band as “Bloc Party MK2” during its Maida Vale set for BBC Radio 6 Music’s live series. With new members Justin Harris and Louis Bartle, respectively, rounding out the band, Bloc Party performed two new tracks, “Exes” and “The Good News”; watch their seven-song set, which also included familiar hits “Banquet” and “This Modern Love”, below. At one point, a choir even gets involved.
A new single off Bloc Party’s upcoming fifth album is expected to be premiered in the UK later today by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1.
[h/t DIY]
UPDATE 4:23 p.m.: The BBC video has been pulled, but here’s Bloc Party’s new single, “The Love Within.”