It turns out Kele Okereke wasn't just being paranoid when he last week questioned whether he had been sacked from his longtime outfit Bloc Party. Adding to the singer's story of discovering his bandmates had arranged rehearsals without him, the band have now confirmed that they're looking for a new vocalist.
Speaking with NME, guitarist Russell Lissack explained that considering Okereke's solo career is heating up, the band are ready to forge ahead without their original frontman. As suspected, they've already written new tunes that won't include the singer/guitarist.
"It's not really a secret because Kele's been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he's going to be doing that a bit longer," Lissack said. "The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows."
Much like Okereke admitted last week, Lissack reiterated that the two teams haven't been in much contact of late, with the lead guitarist not having spoken to his now-former bandmate in months. He added, however, that there's "no bad vibes" between the parties.
Okereke, meanwhile, seems stunned at the news. A post on his official blog addresses the departure, and he generally seems dumbfounded at the decision.
"Hmm, I don't know what to make of this," he wrote. "A big part of me is laughing HARD at all of this but another part of me is all like WTF? I'm quite curious as to what a Bloc Party audition would be like? I wonder if they would let me sit on the panel so i could be a judge Tyra Banks style?"
Considering the band have yet to announce a replacement, Okereke's suggestion doesn't seem half bad. It'd be like that old TLC show R U the Girl, but with more angular rock riffs.
UPDATE: In a post on Bloc Party's website, they have given the following message: "Bloc Party is still Bloc Party. See you Soon." They also posted that Simpsons-looking photo above. What does it mean? Likely just more confusion.
As previously reported, Okereke's The Hunter EP comes out October 30 in the UK.
Speaking with NME, guitarist Russell Lissack explained that considering Okereke's solo career is heating up, the band are ready to forge ahead without their original frontman. As suspected, they've already written new tunes that won't include the singer/guitarist.
"It's not really a secret because Kele's been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he's going to be doing that a bit longer," Lissack said. "The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows."
Much like Okereke admitted last week, Lissack reiterated that the two teams haven't been in much contact of late, with the lead guitarist not having spoken to his now-former bandmate in months. He added, however, that there's "no bad vibes" between the parties.
Okereke, meanwhile, seems stunned at the news. A post on his official blog addresses the departure, and he generally seems dumbfounded at the decision.
"Hmm, I don't know what to make of this," he wrote. "A big part of me is laughing HARD at all of this but another part of me is all like WTF? I'm quite curious as to what a Bloc Party audition would be like? I wonder if they would let me sit on the panel so i could be a judge Tyra Banks style?"
Considering the band have yet to announce a replacement, Okereke's suggestion doesn't seem half bad. It'd be like that old TLC show R U the Girl, but with more angular rock riffs.
UPDATE: In a post on Bloc Party's website, they have given the following message: "Bloc Party is still Bloc Party. See you Soon." They also posted that Simpsons-looking photo above. What does it mean? Likely just more confusion.
As previously reported, Okereke's The Hunter EP comes out October 30 in the UK.