Singles

Kele - Tenderoni

Antonio Rowe 15/06/2010

Rating: 4.5/5

It all makes sense now. When I first heard that Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke had decided to put his guitar to rest, and embark on a solo career in an effort to make a 'dance' record. It's fair to say I was bemused and as curious as a Cheshire cat. But with confirmation from Kele himself, that Bloc Party were ''on a bit of a treadmill'' and things were ''becoming a bit hostile'' between him and his affiliates. So it seems like there couldn't be a better time than any for him to jump into the deep end and explore the depths of a new genre.

So, with Bloc Party officially on a break and with Mr Okereke now donning the back to basics stage name Kele, it seems the time has come for the long player 'The Boxer' to be released. But before that comes promo appetizer Tenderoni. The aforementioned track seems to be a very logical but yet exaggerated continuation of the later Bloc Party material, that being the dark electro pop we witnessed on the likes of 'One more chance' and 'Flux'.

It's very much a gillizion bpm affair, all brash synths, Chicago house piano riffs and some distinct but indistinguishable vocal editing thrown in for good measure. And Kele's falsetto never sounded so strong when he croons the words:

'Been running with the rude boys'
'For much too much too long'

As for the video it's a concotion of Tinie Tempah's 'Pass Out' and Daft Punk's 'Around The World'. To put it simply it's a fantastic surprise that after a couple of listens will have you wondering why he didn't get rid of Russell and Co, sooner!

Release date: 21/06/2010