Singles

Kele - Everything You Wanted

Dominic Valvona 25/08/2010

Rating: 3/5

Kele Okereke's solo career away from, or after, Bloc Party, continues to gather pace.

A metaphorically loaded album, The Boxer, and a relatively successful single, 'Tenderoni', along with the recent unfurling of rainbow coloured bunting has set the new agenda.
The laid-bare interview in Butt magazine and front cover photo shoot for Attitude loudly proclaimed a new sense of freedom for him, which saw his old comrades take a hiatus while Kele swanned around Berlin embracing the electro scene and party atmosphere.

This, the second single from his debut, sees Kele mix up those taut sophisticated beats that Brooklynite producer of choice XXXChange throws down for him, with those familiar heart-on-your-sleeve penned lyrics, not so far removed from his Bloc Party days.

'Everything You Wanted' is a self-referential confrontational pained tale of a broken relationship, evident in the lyrics - “I see the bags in the hallway, I see the pain in your eyes, I've pushed you too far.”

The intro begins with a repetitive one-finger piano refrain and Moroder-esque undulating synthesiser - not too dissimilar to TV On The Radio - before breaking out into tribal glitch drums and metallic oscillating sounds, accompanied by more emotional bouts of haunted backing coos and stirring melodies, Kele pleading “I could have given you everything you wanted.”

The only niggling point is the vocals, which when sparsely backed betray a certain weakness - evident in the extreme at Glastonbury. I'm also concerned that I've heard all this before, many times before to be honest, and it doesn't quite have enough power or individual character to standout, but maybe with all his new found vigour he will overcome these problems.

Release Date: Out Now