Following on rom his stellar solo debut The Boxer singer/ prodcuer/ dj/ former Bloc Party front man Kele (aka Kele Okereke) is set to release his second debut effort Trick on October 10th (via Kobalt Records).
Darker, more sensual than The Boxer, Trick is was formed and honed by periods of weekly DJ sets, and stints producing his own electronic music, with a newfound emphasis on Okereke’s soulful vocals, which grew and changed during the course of recording the album in London and New York.
After being hooked listening to the album’s single ‘Doubt’, a track full of deft beats and syncopated rhythms, we’re excited to be premiering the full length LP Trick. We chatted to Okereke ahead of its release, who took us behind the meaning and making of each track.
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First Impressions
“I worked on this with the very talented British RnB singer called Yasmin. It was a real pleasure to work with her, and I guess ‘First Impressions’ is about the first moments when you see someone across a dancefloor and you feel that connection, that desire to be near them. It’s really about the first strains of desire.”
Coasting
“Is one of my favourite songs on the album because it’s really about the first kind of moments in a relationship where everything is just full of possibilities, you don’t know where it’s going to go, or whether its going to last, but you know that it’s light and it’s easy and it’s fun. There’s no sense of attachment and there’s nothing weighing you down it’s just about wanting that period to last forever.”
Doubt
“‘Doubt’ was one of the first song I recorded for the record and its gone on to have lots and lots of different permutations and versions but the version it is now is the one I’m most happy with. There’s a weird kind of juxtaposition between the lyrical matter which has a spiritual house dimension and with a very dark and foreboding musical track. It felt like for me it’s quite a nice marriage of something quite hopeful lyrically but quite hopeless musically. It all sounds desolate.”
Closer
“Closer features the vocals of a friend of mine, Jodie Scantlebury who performed on the first Kele solo record on a track called ‘New Rules’. It was nice to be able to work with her again on this record. To me it’s one of the saddest songs on the record, it’s the sound of what happens when the love is taken away and you’re left on your own with that feeling of needing contact, and that feeling of being surrounded by people but feeling so alone.”
Like We Used To
“This is one of the last songs we wrote for the record and I guess it kinda’ details the dissolution of a relationship, the moments when you realise that its falling apart, as opposed to staying afloat.Musically with the record I was listened to a lot of James Holden’s record The Inheritors and I just love those twinkly arpeggiated sounds and we wanted to marry those with dancer house tracks.”
Humour Me
“It’s funny, ‘Humour Me’ is one of the only tracks I think really works on a dancefloor, I don’t think the whole record is a house record. There are only one or two tracks on the record and that are dancer and I think ‘Humour Me’ is one of those tracks that was written with that in mind.”
Year Zero
“‘Year Zero’ is actually the first song I wrote with the record, like ‘Doubt’ its gone through quite a few different permutations but I’m quite happy with where it is now.”
My Hotel Room
“‘My Hotel Room’ is a song about desire, it’s a song about wanting a connection with someone you’ve just meet really, its quite a lustful song- but its all fun.”
Silver And Gold
“I guess this is the most positive song on the records. It’s a song about a love that is enduring. It’s about he past or the trials and tribulations of two people who are committed to making something work.”
Stay The Night
“One of my favourite songs on the record, it has a kind of longing about it and it’s a very different song for me to sing. I guess it’s a story of a lover waiting for something they know they’re not going to get, but they’re still hanging on hoping something arises, it’s my favourite song on the record.”
Trick is out October 10th via Kobalt Records.
