Four by Bloc Party

It's the album that Bloc Party always threatened to make, the one that, against all the odds, raises them to a whole new level. 

Every note sounds young and lyric, inspired.

Not since Silent Alarm have Bloc Party sustained such vision, ideas and indeed quality over an entire record.

Even these slight missteps can’t diminish the power of Four, which reinforces that Bloc Party continues to be one of the most innovative, vibrant bands to emerge in the last decade. 

Four is a commendable comeback, if you feel obliged to use the word.

At its best it excels with a glut of sensitive pop tunes which, although no substitute for exhilarating, provocative post-punk, prove Bloc Party are still capable of depth.

The time off seems to have refocused and re-energized the band, which doesn’t simply reverse course, but pulls a screaming U-turn toward those long-lost art punk sounds first heard on its debut.

Four sounds like an album created by a talented band that finally got back in a room together after a long time apart, and just seemed to put together all the various ideas they’ve all had without stopping to think too much about them.

Four conveys the experience of watching an athlete reliant on explosive physicality realize that his body is betraying him. 

Unfortunately the album seems a victim of the rush to resurface.

Ultimately, though, the album suffers some of the worst adjectives any musician can hear: boring, forgettable, and embarrassing.

Four, like so much mediocre and failed art, goes through the motions of evocative composition but fails to generate any real visceral response.